The Filibusters of Death
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Atomic Network. Winter has descended into Japan and along it come some new faces which want to be the latest fashionable Network criminal organization: the FOD. Yet their business has some murky complot behind them with more than one party involved. A mysterious meteor drops in Utah as well and a race begins to figure out the sequels of its impact. Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: Unnanounced visitors

**The Filibusters of Death**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Unannounced visitors**

16:16 PM (Japan Time), Thursday November the 27th, 2008…

"… Ah. So there it is… "Earth"…is that planet's name."

"It has been a long time since we had found such a planet."

Earth shone with its usual pallid blue light in space as tons of orbital satellites circled around it or remained stationary in one spot: the still-under-construction International Space Station looped around the planet every a few intervals.

A strange spacecraft was approaching it while slowly drawing an orbit which had it come out of the Moon's reverse side.

The spacecraft had several parts: the main part was shaped like a cone colored green and was placed at the head: its main body had several circles drawn on it and some lights shone on its surface with increasing and decreasing glows.

A cylindrical central column colored pale brown emerged from the base and it extended until it reached a purple-colored dome-shaped object placed at the end of its length.

Several purple-colored ellipsoid objects were placed on top of it and around its whole diameter.

Placed midway between the piece at the end and the head was a circle-shaped object colored lime green.

Located between the head and the circle-shaped objects were some short cylinders: some of them (6 out of 10) had cone-shaped objects attached to them as if they were supports.

These objects were colored gray had some vertical grooves on them along with a drawing of a planet painted black on the underside.

"Hum. True. I think that our last find was about 200 years ago."

"Our systems awakened us when they detected probes exploring "this" Solar System… Man' Azanz."

There was a Cyber World built at the head of the extremely long craft which contained had several floating screens which displayed diverse graphics: the surroundings were designed to imitate the feeling of outer space itself.

Two strange Net Navis were standing inside: their design was unlike any other seen before.

One of them, the taller, had two folded triangular wings with grooves drawn on them.

His eyes' irises were colored purple and displayed no emotion.

The drawing of a planet was placed on his helmet's forehead too.

His body also had some grooves drawn on its surface and he didn't have any emblems on his chest or in the sides of his helmet.

He looked about over two meters tall.

His wings were colored golden.

Another Navi was standing at his right.

This one had a clear feminine appearance and her design was very similar to that of her partner.

Her eyes' irises were purple as well and she displayed no emotion either.

She wore a necklace with a jewel shaped like a planet.

Her wings were colored silver instead.

"What is our command? Man' Kananz."

"According to the will of our makers, we must send one of the Probes into it to catalog it and, if necessary, promote its evolution." The female (Man' Kananz) spoke in the same type of voice.

"Xon' Edos will do. Number 5." The male (Man' Azanz) announced.

"Acknowledged. I shall summon him." Man' Kananz confirmed.

A new Navi "flew" inside of the area soon enough.

He looked very similar in design to the other two, but his wings were colored bronze instead.

He kneeled when in front of the other two.

"Thy time has come." Man' Azanz commanded.

"Thou shall fulfill the will of our makers." Man' Kananz ordered next.

"I shall bow before the will of our makers and accomplish their mission: such is my purpose." The newcomer (Xon' Edos) made a reverence.

"Prepare for deployment. Farewell, child of our makers."

"May our makers be with thy."

The Navi made a new reverence and "flew" outside of the room.

"Engage tactical camouflage." Man' Azanz ordered.

"Tactical camouflage is engaged." Man' Kananz confirmed.

The whole spacecraft became transparent and its silhouette was barely visible.

One of the attached crafts detached and shot out towards the Earth.

The mother craft ignited its main engine and corrected its orbit to continue inwards and skipping Earth altogether.

"Approach course: begin."

The now lone craft headed towards the Earth at a set speed to match that of a vulgar asteroid and not draw the attention: It skillfully maneuvered to avoid any orbital satellites and corrected its trajectory.

The craft soon was surrounded by the fire of atmospheric re-entry and plunged into the clouds.

"Crash course: preparations completed."

The insides of the craft were very similar, if not identical, to those of the mother craft.

The lone Navi was keeping track of several screens filled with graphics and undecipherable glyphs.

"… This continent seems to be a strategic spot. It has ample deserts. I have decided. My point of insertion will be this one. I will make the preparations for landing." He spoke aloud.

The craft descended below a concentration of clouds and soon the North Ameroupe continent came into view: it corrected its trajectory again and aimed for the desert plains of Utah.

"… Nothing… Man. This patrol thing is silly. Who would want to steal anything in these desert plains?"

"There could be some punks hiding here too: don't lower the guard."

A patrol of rangers was making its routine nocturnal inspection of the rocky desert's perimeter fences with a jeep car.

"This is Ranger Group 11. There are no abnormalities to report. We will finish our patrol in another ten minutes." One of them reported over the jeep's radio.

"Roger."

The car continued patrolling until it climbed to the top of a small hill and stopped: the two occupants climbed down and inspected the terrain with their binoculars once again.

"There's nothing to be seen: that's why I said this job is rather pointless."

"Huh? Wait! Look towards the North – East." The other added.

The two of them looked over there to see the trail of smoke left behind by an object descending through the atmosphere.

"Ah. It's just a random meteor." One of them shrugged.

"It looks like a big one, though…" The other pointed out.

"Don't worry! It ain't Armageddon." The first one chuckled.

"Yeah. You're right." The second one shrugged.

The meteor descended below the horizon since there was a descending slope: there was a bright flash and a brutal shaking of the terrain which died down soon enough to signal the impact.

"The NASA geeks will come to check this one soon enough. Let's go back to the hut. I've got Bourbon." The first man told his partner as he walked back towards the jeep, shrugging.

"You're right." The second one shrugged as well.

"… I have succeeded in making landfall. I shall present an initial report soon enough." Xon' Edos reported over a radio channel.

"That is good. We shall proceed to explore the rest of the system and depart outside of it afterwards." Man' Ananz replied.

"Child… Accomplish the will of our makers." Man' Kananz commanded next.

"By thou will, Majesties." The Navi bowed.

The communication ceased and the Navi began to run a check of his spacecraft.

"All is in perfect working condition. Let us proceed to gathering of information and translation." He announced aloud.

Several holographic screens emerged and masses of binary data began to be displayed on them.

"So their Network technology seems to be in constant evolution and they are challenging themselves to try to improve in any possible manner: and Net Navis have become a basic pillar of this Network evolution. Not unlike our makers… Yet they made a great mistake which almost cost them their whole civilization and only a few survived… We are better than that mistake was or is… Let us resume our duty!"

17:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… And I'm telling you AGAIN that the gym teacher is pushing us way too hard! It looks like he's trying to take out some kind of frustration on us students… Right, Saito – niisan?"

Hikari Netto, aged 15, was walking down a street with two guys and discussing with them.

He wore the middle school uniform and sported his bandana.

He carried his school suitcase plus a blue sports bag hanging from his right shoulder using a strap.

He obviously carried the Link PET support too.

"Yeah. I agree, Netto - kun. Knowing how much you love gymnastics, it's the first time you've ever complained about the subject in all these years to begin with. Whaddya say, Rainon – kun?"

Saito, his twin brother, could be about two inches taller than Netto by now.

His brown hair was neatly combed and his green emerald eye irises displayed annoyance.

"Please… Skip me the formalities and just name me Nelaus…"

The third guy walking down with them was a student about their age and maybe some inches taller than them.

He had neatly arranged blonde hair which ended at his neck's base and his eyes' irises were green emerald.

His facial features were rather smooth and suave, thus making him stand out somehow.

"My bad. Well?"

"I felt like my tendrils were gonna broke from all those flexions he told us to do!" He groaned.

"That's my point, Nelaus." Netto nodded.

"So, Isaac? You're not gonna say anything 'bout it?" Saito glanced at Nelaus' Link PET.

"Well… Guess I should glad I don't need to do P. E. classes!"

"You should, _dude_."

Isaac, Nelaus' Navi, was about a meter and eighty tall.

His face was young and looked like a guy on his teens: his eyes' irises were purple and they had a hint of amusement to them.

His helmet had a central ruby jewel over the forehead shaped like a cross having four triangle ends: eight lines radiated from the central of it and spread across its surface.

The helmet's main color was navy blue and it was filled with small round and random green dots.

His ear-pads had a white edge and a reddish central body: the Alphabet "I" letter colored purple had been printed there.

His neck had a piece of armor shaped like the Alphabet "V" protecting its base before the start of the chest: it had a cyan edge which split it into two halves the insides of which were colored yellow.

His shoulders were slightly curved square pieces with brown edges, a central silver matrix and five bronze paws forming out of the southern edge which weren't even 5cm long.

His main body color was blue and a central thin purple line spread from the neck's base until his waist, being interrupted by his chest emblem which had the same design as that of his ear-pads.

Some small jade-colored pieces made of two triangles aiming in opposite directions fused at their base were set in columns along the sides of his upper body: none of them were taller than 2cm.

His waist had a belt with three converging rectangular stripes of white edges and black body: they fused in a diamond having a gray body plus a repetition of his Navi emblem on its center.

His arms had purplish DNA imprints painted over their surface.

His forearm armor had a magenta matrix on them while his wrists were colored in a bronze color.

His hands were blue in color too and they had a circle with a white edge the insides of which depicted the Katana "I" colored purple: some "stars" were drawn at random over the background of the symbol.

His legs had some round dots set along their height which contained a drawing: the edge was brown, the core of it was purple and eight slightly curved lines painted red stretched from the core: the gaps between each one were colored blue.

The knees contained a circling bracelet colored mahogany and having those two fused triangles on the front colored golden.

The boots were colored purple and had an eight-pointed sapphire set on the inward side just below the ankle: eight thin indigo lines spread from each spook of the sapphire and across the boot.

Overall he was very cool and looked advanced.

"Man. Well. From what I've been able to snoop, it'd seem he's losing several _Mahjong _games as of late…" Isaac whispered.

"Hah! I knew it!" Netto exclaimed.

"And then he goes and takes it out on us students… What a jerk."

"They ought to fire 'im." Nelaus grumbled as well.

"Or we should exile him to Gondwana." Isaac made a smirk.

"That's in the middle of the Antarctic!" Netto looked surprised.

"You don't have to assume it's a literal, Hikari Jr.! It's just a joke."

"Ah. For a moment you sounded like you were gonna do it for real… You scared me!"

"Sorry for Isaac's jokes, Hikari, but at least they're not as worse as Shadow Man's and Sigma's."

"Luckily both Sigma and Blood Shadow are checking the environment to make sure Legion 64 isn't roaming around…"

"So? Ex-_senpai_'s so-called "Pentagon Scheme"… We don't know anything else 'bout it?"

"Nothing. He hasn't shown his hide or sent that "Talon" program out there either… Zoan Gate Man hasn't been spotted and the Legion 64 Mettools are nowhere to be found. He must be lying low overseas."

"Hum. They've gotta feel patient."

"Sure…" Netto shrugged.

"Ow. My limbs still ache." Saito groaned.

"Ah. This is the spot." Nelaus warned.

They stopped in front of the Hikari house and waved good-bye to each other before the twins stepped into their house.

"We're home!" They both announced.

"Welcome home." Haruka greeted.

The twins took out their sneakers and put on the slippers before they climbed into their bedroom and left their suitcases on the ground next to the desk: they tossed the sports bag inside of the closet and shut it close.

"Man! I feel blown out. And that's because of the gym teacher jerk."

"I can't blame you. He's blown me out, too."

They both placed their PETs on the chargers to recharge them and Netto sat on one of the chairs: he turned on the PC and checked his inbox.

"Hmmm… There's nothing new."

He headed towards the bathroom: Saito checked his own inbox.

"Hmmm… Space Weather News… A meteor has made landfall an hour ago in Utah… A NASA team is expected to be deployed for further investigation… That's all, huh?"

17:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… It'd seem there's nothing to worry about expect for the usual stuff, after all… Twilight's being quiet and must be working on that "Pentagon Scheme" thing whatever it is."

"Obviously, Charles Morgangantz."

"So, Davis… Are you gonna tell me what's inside of Jupiter's core~?"

"Jeez. A gigantic diamond as big as Earth…"

A guy had been walking down a street and talking to his Navi while grinning: the Navi sighed.

The guy, Charles Morgangantz, could be about a meter and seventy-five in height but his age was around his early 20s.

He had messy silver hair which spread slightly backwards and formed some spikes: his eyes' irises were blue.

His clothes consisted on a navy blue overcoat which had a central silver button about the waist: the coat then opened to expose his legs although it covered the rear of them.

He wore a black shirt beneath the overcoat plus black fingerless gloves on his hands: he also sported black jeans and sneakers.

The right shoulder contained blackish armor with an orange-colored edge and a silver button right over it which seemed to help it be gripped to the shoulder: three circles were then drawn on his right sleeve before a triangular piece of armor expanded over the hand: its main body was black too and it had orange edges.

His PET was colored silver and brown and had an emblem: it was a perfect golden-colored cross which was drawn inside of a silver circle having a brownish edge.

"So. Dave. Did you offer Hal a _Bloody Mary_?"

"Jeez. How can I if they're but a super-computer?" The Navi complained with a groan.

"Dunno. Ask someone and no-one."

"Shadow Man is too bad of an influence for you."

The Navi named Davis materialized next to him by some effect of forming blocks of data which spun clockwise as data joined inside of the round space left by them in the center and then gained the basic humanoid form followed by the details: he began to walk down the street while sighing and rolling his eyes.

Davis' body suit was colored in a deep brown color and he appealed as being about a meter and eighty tall in height.

His eyes' irises were chestnut brown and his face seemed to be shaped after a man on his early 20s: he currently displayed some annoyance which they didn't bother to conceal.

His helmet's color was red and so were his boots and forearms: the helmet had the _kanji_ for "seigi" or "justice" written in a golden coloring vertically across his forehead's height.

The Navi seemed to wear a vest over his chest armor colored silver and having bronze edges: the vest also had the Alphabet character "D" colored golden set on each side of its body.

His arms contained four thin brownish stripes running down the north, south, west and east side of them until they drew four circles around the wrist: his forearms had extra armor over it colored in a grayish color plus a small red dome inside of each palm.

The legs' length had been designed to include a network of patterns interconnected by some nodes which were reminiscent of human nerves: the boots' front edge was shaped like a triangle and so was the heel: they apparently served as close-quarters combat weapons.

"So? Are you going to tell Houston you've got mice onboard?" Charles pulled a joke.

"Jeez. The _Discovery_ ain't a sailing ship!"

"A _space_ sailing ship…! SSS! I hiss like Snake Man!"

They reached an apartment block building and Charles took out a set of keys: he unlocked the hall door and checked his post mail mailbox.

"Hmmm… Nah. There's nothing weird."

They stepped into one elevator and exited once they reached the 3rd floor: the two of them then headed for one of the apartments and unlocked it: they quickly turned off the alarm system although Charles left the radio on.

"Home, sweet home…"

"Phew. Sure feels home now that I can freely materialize."

"I guess." Charles smirked.

"What… You're saying I'm not missing the real world or what, Charles?"

"Of course I wasn't… I was just making a joke, ya know."

"Ah. That's better. I'm gonna get some water."

Davis stepped out of the living room while Charles sat down on one sofa: he turned on the TV and began to browse around.

"… And we have received confirmation that a meteor has made landfall in Utah a pair of hours ago. A NASA team will…" One news channel man was saying.

Uninterested, Charles kept browsing channels: after two more minutes, he decided there wasn't anything worth his time so he shut it down.

"Charles… You shouldn't squeeze so much the glass water bottles' cap because then I have problems to open them." Davis complained.

"Sorry." Charles shrugged.

"Look: you look like one of those sedentary guys… Why don't you try to look healthier? It isn't hard!"

"Maybe… I don't feel much like it, anyway."

"What… You want someone like Atomic Network to pop up and go and blow them sky-high, Charles?"

"Well… I'd rather prefer it to be Twilight and his pawns."

"It's better not to ask for those things because they tend to turn real when you less expect that: remember that."

"Okay, Davis. You win." Charles showed his hands' palms in defense.

Charles' Link PET began to ring: intrigued, he unstrapped it and picked it up.

"Unknown number… If it's a crazy dude I know what to tell them." Charles commented after glancing at the screen.

"Hello? Charles?" A voice asked after he'd picked up the call.

"… Martin? Is that you?" Charles seemed to have recognized it.

"That's me." The voice confirmed.

"It's been _ages_! Where the heck are you nowadays? Are you still searching under the stones in Scotland? You sent me a mail in May but that's ages ago already! Did your buddy Ryuuto catch XD001?" Charles asked with a broad smile.

"Nah. I'm in Sharo Nation. And I know I look like Ryuuto of _Pokémon XD: Dark Wind Dark Lugia_ and you look like Leo of _Pokémon Colosseum_ but that joke's outdated." Martin replied.

"Hah! Guess that! Sharo Nation! What the heck are you doing in Sharo Nation? Are you looking for some genuine Vodka or what?" Charles laughed at his own joke.

"I see you still like to pull pranks on people, eh?" Martin sounded amused.

"You know him, Martin." Davis shrugged.

"Oh! That's Davis! Is everything O.K. over there?"

"Yeah! All's totally fine… Say! Is Lander still with you?"

"How wouldn't he? We're a perfect team!" Martin laughed.

"Somebody called the _Sheriff_?" A voice with some Texas accent asked.

"Man! You still sound like that! I thought you'd picked up some Scottish accent by now." Davis laughed.

"Heh! My accent is too cool!" The guy named Lander replied.

"Guess it is! Say! What the heck are you two doing in _Sharo Nation_ of all places?" Davis asked.

"We're looking into a group. However… I'd prefer not to disclose details over the phone. I'm coming to Japan." Martin replied.

"When are you coming? I'll pick you up." Charles offered.

"I'm arriving tomorrow, on Friday November the 28th, with the 11 o'clock flight from Moscow." Martin announced.

"That's good. We'll pick you up tomorrow, then." Davis affirmed.

"Thanks! See you!" Martin replied.

"Don't forget! If ye're in a pinch, call the _Sheriff_!" Lander added, laughing.

Charles placed the Link PET back on its arm strap.

"It's been… What, over three years since we last saw each other? I'd like to know what brought him to Sharo Nation of all places." Charles commented while bringing a hand to his chin.

"I'd like to know, too."

"Let's bake some Maha Ichiban's curry rice."

"That's fine for me. Maha's curry should be on the Michelin Guide."

"Wait a min! Maybe it has something to do with Twilight and his smug "Pentagon Scheme", whatever it is about?"

"It could be, yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if he picked some spot in Sharo Nation to start meddling and taking profit that Laika's in Japan, see."

"Well. We'll just ask him tomorrow and we'll confirm or debunk it."

"OK. I'll take care of the curry… And don't try to add extra spice to it either, Charles, because I know that joke TOO well! See!"

21:21 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Well, well. How's everything like?"

"… Mr. Search Man, sir! There is nothing odd to report, sir."

A team of three Navis saluted in front of Search Man, Net Navi of the Sharo Nation Net Savior Laika as they were seemingly patrolling the Net Police HQ Cyber World.

"Good." Search Man nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, and without warning, an explosion rang out closed by.

"What was_ that_?" Search Man wondered as he engaged his visor and micro.

"I do not know, sir!"

"Someone has breached through Sector 3's firewall!" A voice reported over the radio.

"Deadly Spades!" Someone yelled.

Some Trump cards having the Ace of Spades drawn on them shot out and hit some of the Navis, knocking them off their feet while Search Man jumped into the air and scanned.

"Target: Locked On."

He aimed his Scope Gun at the invisible enemy and charged it up with energy.

"Scope Gun!"

"Uack!"

The shot hit his enemy fully, damaging his camouflage.

"Identify yourself." Search Man demanded.

When the smoke cleared, the enemy's form became visible.

"Hum. A new face…"

The intruder was a Navi about a meter and eighty tall which made him be at more or less Search Man's own height.

His helmet was colored black with white edges and had the _katakana_ "supeedo" or "spade" drawn on its sides.

His eyes' irises were brown and they displayed some amusement as he locked glances with Search Man.

His emblem was the "spade" symbol colored black and set against a white background.

Black was his main body color save in the forearms and boots.

His shoulders had a grayish matrix drawn into them plus the Alphabet letters "FOD" colored cyan.

The length of his arms contained six bands colored red with black Spade symbols on them and his elbow was painted gray.

The forearms were white yet they included a set of four yellowish thin stripes travelling across their length and then drawing climbing and descending spirals across the fingers' height.

The main body had a brown leather belt with a central round metallic plate which had the same "FOD" letters drawn on its center.

The legs' patterns were a repeat of those of the arms but the colors were inverted so that the bands were black and the Spade symbols red.

The boots' lower edges were colored navy blue and eight thick jade-colored vertical stripes travelled across their height.

"My name is Sharp Spade! I am one of the _Filibusters of Death_!"

"I've heard rumors about you guys. I didn't know you had moved to Cyber World operations as well." Search Man aimed his Scope Gun at him without being surprised.

"Oh…? Ah, yes… You're Search Man from Sharo Nation… It's no wonder you know about us… We're countrymen, after all… Don't you agree, c_omrade_?"

"Countrymen or not, you have trespassed the Net Police HQ. You will not get out of here so easily." Search Man icily shot back, being totally unimpressed.

"Well then… Spade Blades!"

Spade spun around his own axis and drew two Long Swords colored black: he jumped into the air and dived towards Search Man while keeping his swords crossed so as to protect his chest.

"Hmpf."

Search Man, however, did not lose his cool and aimed for Spade's right shoulder as he advanced towards Search Man.

"Scope Gun!"

The shot left a clear burn mark on Spade's right shoulder: he made a grimace and lost speed, so he had to make an emergency landing: he was already panting.

"D-damn it…" He cursed.

"You're done for." Search Man announced.

"I underestimated you lowlife… But next time… There shall be no mistakes! Farewell!" Spade replied.

Spade was surrounded by a sphere made up of Trump cards containing all of the spade-themed cards, from the one of spades to the ace.

"Huh. Some new escape system?"

When they cleared, Spade was nowhere to be seen, so Search Man lowered his scope gun and disengaged the micro and visor.

"An unannounced visitor… Spade of the Filibusters of Death…"

"We will need to report this to Commissioner Kifune."

"Roger, Laika – sama." Search Man acknowledged.

"Could he be related to the "Pentagon Scheme"…? It's too early to know."

22:57 PM (Japan Time)…

"… That's weird."

"What's weird, Boss?"

Two persons were talking inside of a room which was shaped like a dome: the ground had the general form of the Hikari emblem although the straight line and the pyramid-like bases were placed at the north and south ends instead of being in the north-west and south-east ends like in Netto's bandana.

There were two half-hexagon spots which had been built such that the ground was thirty centimeters lower and covered in a grid-like material to allow for air to flow across it.

The corridor was only wide enough for one person to walk through and it had a small hole from which a rail originated around the middle point of it: it extended forward until it reached the spot where the man's armchair (which had a purple Alphabet "V" drawn behind it) was at.

A closed hatch could be seen set on the ceiling directly above this middle spot.

The far end had a control console a group of 3 LCD screens set in a curved manner over the console: the room had some circular LED lights (like the ones in traffic lights) set on the walls forming figures.

There was a black armchair set on the rail in front of the consoles.

"Well, Omega… This is odd."

"Space Weather News…?"

Omega, the Navi, was about one meter and eighty tall.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed calm and concentration while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.

"Yeah. This meteor they're talking about in the news… Our radar didn't detect it."

A man was sitting on the chair.

He looked on his mid – twenties, had messy jet black hair and red eye irises.

He wore a grayish armor made of several plates joined together of an unknown material and two swords sheaths were attached to his black belt.

His arms and legs were also covered in plating and he had boots and gloves of the same material.

A purple ragged, stained and torn cape hung from the back of the shoulders and reached all the way to the floor.

"Why. That's weird. All meteors give off a radar echo which is easily recognizable because of its irregular shape." Omega frowned and seemed to be as surprised as the man.

"I know, Omega. Maybe because there's been an ongoing solar storm it may have momentarily affected the radar…"

"Hmmm… No. It couldn't be." Omega muttered.

"What… Did you think it was something else?"

"Yeah. But I discarded it. I was thinking it could be _D & S Mark One_."

"Impossible. I kicked them into the depths of the galaxy years ago. At they don't have above-light-speed travel system. They're like a comet. They couldn't have returned." The man negated with the head.

"I'd say we leave it to the NASA guys to deal with it."

"I agree. We should go to sleep, too. I'm sure we'll be busy enough in the days to come… Trying to figure out what "Pentagon Scheme" is…!"


	2. Chapter 2: Deadly Duchess

**Chapter 2: Deadly Duchess**

10:40 AM (Japan Time), Friday November the 28th…

"… Toyota and Atoyot drive and not drive~…"

"That rhyme is LAME."

"Blame Ryuuto!"

"Blame Martin…? Why?"

"…'Cause he brought the Scotland puns with him."

"Jeez. We haven't met him yet!"

Charles drove a white Toyota into one of the parking lots located within the Densan Airport perimeter while joking with Davis who didn't like his jokes to begin with.

"OK. Let's go meet Otuuyr."

"You mean Martin!"

"Nitram! Shadow Man's mirroring spell works!"

"What "mirroring spell"? This is plain joking."

He parked and stepped out: after making sure it was locked, he pocketed the keys on his raincoat's right pocket and whistled a tune as he headed towards the arrivals building.

"OK! Is Ryuuto - dono's flight on-time, Davis?" He asked him.

"Yeah. It's scheduled to land in another fifteen minutes. And stop with the puns."

"O. K., Dave~…" Charles grinned.

"Jeez."

He entered the arrivals building lobby and picked a spot near the doors which connected to the luggage picking area: he leant on the handrail and distractedly eyed the people going up and down.

"Yo~! Charles! Over here~!"

"They came. My successor… The Cyber Snatcher!"

"What the heck do you mean? Just because his Snatch Machine was more advanced that doesn't make it "Cyber"…"

"Don't ask me: ask IBM."

"Not again with the IBM pun… Go _fish 'n chips_!"

A young guy a bit younger than Charles by one or two years and shorter by about 4 to 5 centimeters walked over to him.

He had unkempt reddish hair and brown eye irises which currently depicted some amusement.

He sported a golden-colored sleeveless vest which was open and he had a black t-shirt underneath it: he also wore blue jeans with a modern-looking double-row belt.

He had an arm strap for a Link PET on his right arm: the Link PET was colored in camouflage colors.

Its emblem was a skull colored black and with blue eyes set against a silver background.

The newcomer was also carrying a wheeled suitcase and a black-colored backpack.

"Martin Blackdesu! It's been _ages_!" Charles greeted him with a hand shaking.

"The same applies to you, _Senator_ Charles Morgangantz." Martin sounded amused.

"So! The _Sheriff_ will come out to greet the _Captain_?" Davis asked the Navi inside of the PET.

"Sure thin'! _Hauptmann_!"

Martin's Navi projected with the holographic projector: they could be about Davis' height or slightly taller too.

He wore a Mexican-style hat over his brown dust – colored helmet which also had some random blue and black dots scattered around it: his eyes' irises were brown.

His main body was colored navy blue and he had an open blackish vest over the torso: he exhibited a _Sheriff_'s star on the right side of his torso.

His shoulders were anatomically correct and they had brass plating over them.

The arms' length and the elbows were colored brown too and his forearms were green with two orange circling bands on them: his wrists had metallic bracelets on them.

He sported a black leather belt with two Colt revolvers on it along with bullets on his waist.

His legs were also colored brown but he had jeans over them which ended at the start of his boots.

The boots were colored black: they had blue and brown dots across them.

"Yeah! Ye can be sure of it, Mr. Captain Davis Henshman!"

"You keep on being the same as always! Eh, Lander?"

"Ye're right on that, Davis!" Lander grinned.

"Come: I'll invite you to my place."

"Lead the way." Martin smiled.

Both of them walked back into the parking lot and climbed into the white Toyota, which soon drove away.

"So? Are you gonna tell us why the heck were you in Sharo Nation of all places?" Charles asked him.

"Well! I was investigating a group named "The Filibusters of Death" or FOD for short. They firstly were no different from any other Sharo Nation – based mafia which went around smuggling weapons into neighboring countries… But… One mid October day… They suddenly changed."

"Mid October…!" Charles muttered.

"They were summoned by the big boss and warned the members over the fact that the police was about to catch 'em all, so it'd be better for them to scram. A week later the big boss was located dead in an infamous pub which was raided by the police… They claimed that he'd been gambling whatever money he had left in a _Sharo Roulette _game and that he got the bullet. However! We suspect it was staged." Martin detailed.

"Hum! There was a _coup_ inside of it, then?"

"Yeah. But we don't know who did it, see. All that we know is that, after they scrambled, the whole thing became a Cyber World-using terrorist group. They have attributed to their own some small sabotage and murders within the under circles of Siberia."

"Siberia, huh?" Charles smirked.

"Also… We did manage to find out that there are six solo Navis each themed about a type of Trumps… Spade, Diamond, Club, Heart, Ace and Joker. There's supposedly a boss-like Navi and two persons running the business and they recently moved to Japan. That's why I've come: I have to investigate their activities."

"So that's why you were there, then. But if there are 7 Navis then it ain't the "Pentagon Scheme"…? Or they could be thought of later on and added at the last moment after the main 5 were done…"

"Have you fought any of them, Lander?" Davis asked.

"I did fight a guy named Sharp Spade. He was rather sneaky and tried to overwhelm me with a lot of attacks which had low power. When I tried to counter-attack, he fled." Lander admitted.

"Aha. He wasn't a big fish, then."

"By the way, Charles… Do you know a Sharo Nation Net Savior named Laika? I was supposed to contact him to brief him on what I knew."

"Laika? I know the chap. I'll introduce you two later. Let's go drop the luggage and then let's be on our way to the Net Police HQ."

11:21 AM (Japan Time)…

"… You gotta be kidding me…!"

"What's up, Enzan?"

Ijuuin Enzan turned from looking at the coffee vending machine to spot Laika walking towards him: Enzan looked rather sleepy and tired.

"What… Did you stay up late?" Laika guessed.

"Yeah… One salesman came late at the evening and there was no way to shake him off… I told him over and over again that his project could be done by us by half of his proposed budget… Finally, I lost patience and told him: "Get your feet outta 'ere before I blow your PET up with my Net Navi."… And flee, he sure did." Enzan yawned.

"And the reason you were cursing a minute ago was because the coffee vending machine has broken down?" Laika smirked as he glanced at the small LCD screen.

"OUT OF ORDER"

"Yeah… What about ya? What did you do last night? Blow some Viruses up?" Enzan asked as he barely repressed another yawn.

"You could say I had a rather intriguing night. We had an unannounced visitor… It was a solo Net Navi from a Sharo Nation – based group, "Filibusters of Death". His name was Sharp Spade. He fled after we taught him one or two things." Laika smiled.

"What the… Why do these things only happen to _you_ and I get the short end of the stick?" Enzan cursed and pointed an accusing finger at Laika's face.

"Enzan – sama has been wishing for a ruckus to happen as of late so as to break out of his everyday routine. He thought Twilight and his freakish "Talon" program would do." Blues hushed.

"It's no surprise." Search Man smirked.

"By the way, Enzan… There's someone behind you."

Enzan turned around, still being half-sleepy, only to be met by a blue-colored monster face.

It had red eyes, big and sharp teeth, four wide and big horns and a kind of crown.

"YEA~RGH!"

The monster's face faded away to reveal Charles' face.

"Yo!" He greeted with a broad grin.

"Gah! Charles! What was that for?" Enzan demanded, now being fully awake.

"I saw you very sleepy, so I thought I could give you a hand to shake it off."

"Hmm? Who's that guy?" Laika asked while signaling Martin.

"King Land Net Savior: Martin Blackdesu. I'm in charge of the investigation regarding the "Filibusters of Death"..." Martin announced.

"Oh. So you're the person my superiors told me to expect, then."

"Hullo! I'm Lander: the _Sheriff_ of this county!" Lander announced.

"Wow. You do look like one." Search Man smirked.

"Be careful, Search Man. He may be faster shooting than his own shadow." Blues made a smirk as well.

"Yeah! No crappy shadow can match my speed!" Lander laughed.

"Maybe it'd be better if we went to visit Commissioner Kifune and brief him and all of you at the same time?" Charles suggested.

"That's not a bad idea, ya know." Martin brought the right hand to his chin and looked like he thought it was wise.

"Let's go, Cyber Snatcher! Catch the "Kairyuu" Mirror Ball has on him and put an end to the "Dark PKMN Scheme"!"

"Jeez. Stop with the _XD_ jokes… It's already been 3 years since the release to begin with! Let's move it already, Charlie~… Heh, heh, heh."

12:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew. _Work and more_ _work_!"

"The Maha Special, Dr. Wily – sama."

Count Elec, Operator of Elec Man, was cleaning up one Maha Ichiban's table: he sighed in relief once he was done, while Maha Jarama, Magic Man's Operator, carried a dish of curry rice with its sauce towards a table and deposited it there.

"Oho! Today's Maha Special seems to have a distinct scent…"

Dr. Wily, dressed with his cap, jumper, jeans and boots, smiled.

"I added some new species to it." Maha admitted.

"I suspected so." Wily chuckled.

"If you shall excuse me…" Maha bowed.

"Go."

Maha returned into the kitchen while Count Elec flipped through a book regarding Scotland: he spotted two figures coming closer.

"_Oh_! We have _customers_! _Good, good_!"

He walked towards the entrance door and smiled while closing his eyes to look welcoming.

"Welcome to Maha Ichiban's!"

"EXODO FLAME!"

Count Elec opened his eyes and his jaw hit the floor.

He was facing an evil-looking face which was highly reminiscent of that of an ancient Pharaoh, but it was totally mummified.

It looked extremely sinister.

"_OH MY GOD_! _It's a monster_!" He exclaimed.

"Exodia: defeated!"

The face vanished and Charles' face appeared on its place: Martin, who was hardly muffling his laughter, was standing behind him.

"_What_! Morgangantz! You crook…!" Count Elec cursed.

"Ahem, ahem!" Dr. Wily cleared his throat.

Count Elec felt a shiver go down his spine and quickly spun around.

"W-what is it, Dr. Wily – sama?" Count Elec asked, his teeth dancing.

"You should watch your manners. Aren't you a _Count_?" Dr. Wily pointed out with a smirk.

"R-roger, Dr. Wily – sama!"

Both Charles and Martin sat down in one table.

"That's Dr. Wily. Have you heard of him?" Charles asked Martin.

"Wasn't he the leader of the WWW and the leader of Gospel behind the scenes?" Martin recalled.

"Yeah! You got the right man." Charles smiled.

"Of course… Maha Ichiban's is run by the former WWW members…"

"Mr. Maha Jarama! Will you bring us two Maha Specials?"

"Right away." Maha smiled.

He disappeared into the kitchen again while Count Elec walked towards there grumbling something under his breath.

"_That kiddo! I'll teach him a lesson yet_!"

"That's some good county accent." Martin hushed to Charles.

"Heh! County Man and Nam Ytnuoc conspire together."

"Not the mirroring thing again…" Lander groaned.

"Huff. You haven't met Shadow Man and his unbearable jokes yet."

"Heck. I'd prefer some Wild West city to this crazy city."

13:13 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! He keeps on being the same?"

"That's right! It's getting onto my nerves!"

"You should tell 'im he's outdated."

Number Man, Higure Yamitarou's Navi, was speaking with another two Net Navis inside of the Cyber World Higureya locale.

"Hmmm… Then what could we do?"

One of the Navis was about a meter and sixty in height or maybe closer to a meter and seventy: his main color of choice was red.

He sported black shades: a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Scare and Eracs! Bloody~ Shadowy~! Ya know the deal!" The other Navi joked.

"Blood Shadow's the name, Sigma."

Sigma was about two meters tall and colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area.

This spheroid seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which was easily over a meter tall.

Overall, he seemed to be tall and imposing.

"Maybe you should scare him with something…" Blood Shadow offered.

"I don't know if that of the fake spider will work again, Blood Shadow."

"No! What we need is to project a monster's body into the store!"

"It could work."

"It'll work." Sigma grinned.

"What kind of monster do you have in mind?" Number Man asked in a hushed conspiracy tone.

"Let's show 'im the Dream Virus."

"Oh come on."

Yells and explosions began to sound outside of the store accompanied by megalomaniac laughter.

"Shit! There's trouble." Blood Shadow cursed.

"Mwah, hah, hah… You know our orders: trouble goes back to the pit they came out from!" Sigma chuckled.

Both of them ran out to see several Navis running away and some buildings had holes on them: there was one Trump card on the ground: the nine of diamonds.

"Aha ~h, hah, hah! Hah, hah, ha~h! This land is mine! Run for it, you plebeians!" A high-pitched voice laughed.

A Navi came into sight: she was a girl Navi who was about a meter and eighty tall and her face resembled a girl on her early 20s.

Her main body colored was a shade of vermillion: her helmet was colored in that shade and it had some random white patterns carved across its surface: the forehead had the "FOD" initials carved there.

Her eyes' irises were blood red and she looked smug.

A long ponytail of greenish hair extended from the lower edge of the helmet and reached almost all the way to the floor.

Her main body included greenish edges which signaled the spot where her shoulders and hips began.

The chest emblem was the "diamond" symbol colored red set against a black background.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and some climbing cyan patterns surrounded them: the arms and elbows were colored in that vermillion shade with black circuitry patterns across their length.

The wrists had bracelets with emeralds, sapphires and rubies embed into them colored metallic gray and her fingers were colored golden.

Like her companion Spade she also sported a leather belt with the "FOD" initials on it around her waist.

Her legs and knees were colored black instead and the patterns were vermillion: it was a reversal of the arms' colors.

She sported azure boots with heels on them.

"I am Diamond Duchess! I claim my patch of land today and now! Make way, you herd of plebeians! Aha~h, hah, hah!"

"BRING IT ON! YOU'RE FINISHED!"

"_Aux femme fatale_!" Blood Shadow snickered.

The Navi stopped and looked at both Navis: she looked angry or annoyed and her arrogant pose didn't change.

"Didn't you hear me? Move out of the way!" She waved her right hand like she was in charge.

"Sorry, missy! But you're the root of trouble and we're under orders to send you back to your beloved Switzerland palace!"

"That's our motto!"

"How rude of you savages…! I shall teach you to bow before someone of the royalty! Diamond Rain!"

A purple swirling rift opened in the sky and a rain of diamond-themed Trump cards rained down at a mad speed: they exploded and caused smoke to build up when they impacted into the ground.

"Hah! I hope you learned your lesson, vermin!" Diamond proclaimed in an arrogant tone.

"Sorry! But we're not there!"

"Ye rush too much!" Sigma's voice added.

Diamond assumed a worried face and looked around.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

"Sigma Sword!"

Blood Shadow suddenly appeared again to her right and shot a blast of energy shot from his shotgun's double barrels while Sigma hit the floor with his sword and a shockwave sent her flying and crashing against a building's side.

"W-what the heck are you two? You're not normal Navis!" She cursed while having a grimace on her face.

"We're the _Sub Space_. You'd better remember it."

"We're letting ye run this time. But next time, we'll have to send you to the Net Prison instead."

"D-damn it! I'll remember this, vermin!"

Diamond was surrounded by a sphere made of Trump cards and vanished.

"Let's go tell Commander Omega."

"I'll go. You meet up with the guys. They should be about to leave… They end up earlier in Friday…"

"That's fine for me! They'll be eager to learn more!"

14:51 PM (Japan Time)…

"… * huff * … * huff * … That was close…"

"If ain't Ms. Impatient Duchess."

Diamond Duchess had been leaning her back against a metallic wall in a large and wide metallic corridor lightened by fluorescent lights when she spotted Sharp Spade standing close by.

"What! You want to laugh at my face? You were beaten by a Sharo Nation Net Savior!" Diamond Duchess pointed an accusing finger at him.

"And you had to try to claim a patch in Internet City and get the Sub Space to know 'bout us." Sharp Spade replied.

"What? How did you know about them and I didn't?"

"If you hadn't run off forty-five minutes ago, you'd been in the briefing Boss held up. He was rather pissed off when he heard about what you were planning to do." Sharp Spade explained with a smirk.

"Demons! I must apologize in front of him… But I'd never had trouble doing this back in Siberia…"

"That was because it was _Siberia_: there are so many empty patches that no one cares about. But Japanese people do value every square meter of terrain." Sharp Spade told her.

"Get lost!" Diamond Duchess grumbled.

"Okay, Ms. Dethroned Duchess."

Sharp Spade walked away towards the north laughing aloud: Diamond Duchess kept on looking rather pissed off.

"He won't get away with it…! Just you wait, Spade!"

"I wait and not wait and not wait and wait!"

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT, CHA~?"

"My newest invincible rhyme, _Comrade_~… See ya and not see ya~! Heh!"

15:05 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So… Two of them have showed up insofar, eh?"

"Yeah! And we told that chick that she's fired!"

Sigma was projecting from Netto's Link PET and telling him, Saito and Nelaus about what had just happened in Internet City: Charles and Martin also heard with attention.

"Two out of seven… There's another four left to show up and we don't know if we'll get to see their boss." Martin brought a hand to his chin.

"Heh! If more grunts show up, I'll go tell 'em I'm the _Sheriff_!"

"And tell 'em Whyte's ghost is gonna chase 'em." Isaac smiled.

"Good ol' Blood went to report to Commander Omega… We should list them as our topmost priority." Sigma suggested.

"I agree. You never know what they might do next."

"Why do these guys tend to show up one after another, anyway? That Twilight jerk gotta be involved: it's become the "Heptagon Scheme" instead of the "Pentagon Scheme"…"

"Sure thing…"

"Hullo, I'm back!" Blood Shadow returned to the PET.

"What did Omega say?" Charles asked.

"Our top priority is dealing with these jerks."

"And what's the second priority?" Davis asked.

"He didn't tell me."

"Well… I'd say we should really worry about what are those guys gonna do next. If Twilight is behind them then…"

"Heh! They're gonna search for the Demon King's throne in Hokkaido!"

"I'd rather say you should search for the Demon King in Melbourne…"

23:33 PM (Utah Time), Thursday November the 27th…

"… Why! This is VERY odd!"

"What's odd, boss?"

Several NASA men were wandering around the base camp set next to the crater: the crater was five kilometers wide and almost one deep and chatter filled the air.

"My clock is acting funny…" One of them told another.

In effect: the "second" mark tended to stop and jump forward altogether every twice or thrice.

"Maybe it's broken, boss?" The aide suggested.

"That's weird. I bought it just one year ago." The head frowned.

Yet the mysterious alien Net Navi known as Xon' Edos was not oblivious to the team of NASA men camping near his landfall spot.

"They must have been attracted by the crater I have left behind… But it would take very advanced technology to reach me… I have nothing to worry about. The mother ship receives reports of my investigation in a fast time thanks to the fact that our Creators have long ago learned how to transmit data above the speed of the light: my duty will not be in vain. Or that of the other 4 that departed the mother ship time before me: we 10 "Explorer" units must catalog and compare notes so as to see how evolutions progresses in each planet…"

He chuckled under his breath and his eyes shone with a strange lust on them as he looked up more holographic screens filled with both binary data and strange glyphs.

"Yet the data I am translating is intriguing… It would seem some entity named "Twilight" is expected to start a conflict involving a new kind of Net Navis… And 2 of them have already appeared… This planet might be very interesting to study indeed… Let us resume! Time is of essence."

He chuckled under his breath once again and formed a creepy grin…


	3. Chapter 3: Intensive training

**Chapter 3: Intensive training**

09:50 AM (Japan Time), Saturday November the 29th…

"… Huff! Today we deserve a break… We'll go train at the HQ!"

"Sure, Nelaus. It's been a while. Maybe we'll meet Iris and Trill."

"And Dragon – san's newest crazy Simplified Chinese banner…"

"Oh boy…"

"I don't wanna know what it says, Blood."

"Mwah, hah, hah… It'll be cool…"

Netto, Saito and Nelaus were sitting in the back seats of a black Honda FRV model car and chatting with their Navis: two men were sitting on the front seats.

One of them, the driver, looked on his forties.

He had a square jaw, sported sunglasses and wore business attire along with a hat.

He also had a red tie.

The one in the rightmost passenger seat was a man on his twenties.

He had short brown hair and his eyes' irises were brown: slight remains of a recent shaving could be spotted on his face too.

He wore a white shirt with a brown suit over it, a purplish tie, pants and brown shoes.

He also had reading glasses on.

"It'd seem the mood is high, right, Mr. Denpa, sir?"

"Heh. Of course, Agent On Air… Ah. We're almost there." The passenger smiled back at him.

"True, sir."

"Oho." The teens grinned.

The car stopped near an abandoned warehouse building where a small aerodynamic-looking white spacecraft was stationed inside of.

The shuttle looked aerodynamic and was colored silver: the shuttle had a front Plexiglas view window and two short wings and tail but it didn't seem to have any visible means of propulsion: entrance was gained through an open hatch on the left side of the body.

Omega was standing at the right of the opened side door and whistling a tune.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Hello, Omega." Everyone replied.

"Are you guys ready for a jumpy ride?" Omega asked with a grin.

"You know us." Nelaus smiled.

"Climb in." Omega signaled the craft with his right thumb.

Everyone climbed in and entered the small main cabin before they sat on the seats and plucked the seat belts.

"Good. Let's seal the hatch."

Omega entered next and sealed the door before he sat in the pilot's chair and checked all readings on the console's LCD screen.

"All's green. Get ready!"

The craft's engines whistled to life and the craft began to move: the intriguing part was that the passengers didn't notice anything, but the two men who'd driven them there could see the craft shooting out towards outer space without any apparent propulsion system.

"The "inertial drive"… Cool!" Nelaus whistled.

"Heh. Wait 'till NASA gets their hands on it… They'll run up the walls at not thinking it was possible to invent it up…" Omega sarcastically told them with a grin.

"Heh, heh, heh." Isaac chuckled.

The craft exited the atmosphere and continued moving forward and the orbit of an object was being displayed onscreen: they would meet with it in a matter of eight minutes.

"Say, Omega…" Netto began.

"What's up, Hikari?" Omega asked.

"That news of the meteor had me thinking… About "Duo"… Did you figure anything else from "Alternate" Rock Man's memories as provided by Umbra…?" Netto asked.

"We found their "space city" in Brazil 2 weeks ago because we detected an odd power spike where there are no cities…"

"Whoa! What did you find there?" Nelaus asked.

"Some recordings left behind… They spoke in some alien idiom but the images told a tale… See, those "Creator" guys as Duo and Slur Mark One named them, had created Duo to admin their Network from the Universe… But the guy got "God Complex" and turned their planet into cybernetic data to then delete it… Luckily a "space city" survived and managed to fly away until it reached Earth close to the end of the dinosaur age… The survivors seemingly researched "Cross Fusion" and did come up with "Dimensional Areas"… But the experiments failed and they died away along with their Navis which seemed to be bound to their owners' lives… There were some programs there standing watch which looked like giants and we dodged them…"

"Whoa."

"That's all there's to it… We did get to see the launch sequence of Duo's craft which was coupled atop a massive stage-by-stage rocket… Given how the thing seemed to be about two hundred meters tall then it had to weight a lot and lifting such a mass would certainly require a gigantic rocket and stages… The craft then gained shape of a comet and wanders the Universe as such… We intercepted it when it was around Jupiter… Back in summer, 2005… You remember that…"

"Phew." The whole group sighed in relief.

"Ah. We're almost there."

The console's LCD screen began to beep and warn that the craft was about to meet up with the object in orbit: Omega pressed some buttons and started to lower speed in order to match the one of the orbital object and make rendezvous easier.

"We're arriving." Omega announced.

The craft penetrated a curtain of while light and continued forward until their destination was revealed and everyone gasped.

"The Subspace HQ!"

The gigantic spacecraft had a main dome-shaped body with a small dome-shaped body built atop the first: the first dome's base was rather thick and large: some hatches could be seen on the sides of the circle which obviously were the docking bays.

Some spires which looked like they were made of glass were set on the first dome's surface to be right above the docking bays: the spires had three rings built around them along with a glass sphere on top of them.

There also were some rectangular view windows set above the spaces between each docking bay.

"Welcome to the Sub Space HQ!" Omega grinned.

One hatch opened and the shuttle flew into the docking bay.

The floor of the room was just a giant platform suspended by steel columns on the borders.

The real floor, two meters below them, contained a set of fans which were currently stopped.

The whole room was about five or six meters tall and eight or ten meters wide.

The craft softly descended until the bottom part had made contact with a piece set on the center of the platform: it was turned around 180º to face the airlock door, which had by now closed and locked.

The fans turned on and quickly filled the room with a normal atmosphere: gravity returned and the doors were unlocked.

"You may step out now." Omega told the passengers.

The group of four descended and walked into one of the armored doors which led to a small corridor which had an elevator at the north end of the space.

"OK!"

They entered it and Netto pressed the button labeled "1ST DECK": the elevator quickly climbed and dinged when it stopped on the desired floor.

"Let's go, Netto – kun."

The group stepped out and walked down a curved metallic corridor which had arches every a few hundred meters and the ceiling contained fluorescent tubes which illuminated it: they group of 3 reached a door labeled "ELECTRONICS LAB #4".

"Okay… Nelaus, Isaac. You may go ahead to the VR Room… We need to speak with Dr. Lartes." Netto told them.

"See you in a while." Saito added.

Nelaus and Isaac nodded and kept walking down the corridor while Netto knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A man's voice invited.

They both stepped into the room.

This room contained a black examination table (like the ones in a medic's office) a wooden desk built into the north wall, a rotating armchair and two capsule-like objects connected to a deposit on the eastern wall: the southern wall had a door marking the entry and exit of the room.

"Oh. Hikari – kun. Saito – kun. Welcome."

"Thank you, Dr. Lartes."

"Let's get down to business."

Dr. Lartes was a man on his mid-20s and about a meter and eighty tall more or less.

He had black slightly messy hair plus brownish irises' eyes.

He wore a medic's coat with the ID "Dr. Kazimura Lartes" written on it and sported brown pants plus shoes: he had a pair of reading glasses on, too, which he adjusted.

"Well. If you were wondering why I requested of you to drop by here on your way to the VR Room, it's simple… I just want to run a check of Saito – kun's body to make sure everything is in order." Dr. Lartes explained.

"That's no problem. I have to return to the PET to be able to do Cross Fusion, anyway." Saito shrugged.

"If you'd be as kind as to lie there, I'll run the checks while you're in the VR Room." Dr. Lartes instructed while signaling the table.

Saito did as instructed and lied in the divan and Netto handed him his original Link PET which Saito placed near his right eye.

"Well! It's time to come out."

An infrared laser shot out and hit the PET: his eyes closed and his body relaxed.

"Are we going?" Saito, as Rock Man, asked as he projected with the PET's hologram.

"We'll drop by when we finish, Dr. Lartes." Netto told the doctor.

"That's no problem. Have fun."

"Thank you!"

Netto exited the electronics lab room and rushed into another room labeled "VR ROOM #03": Nelaus and Isaac were already there and looking around: the room was mainly metallic and rather wide and tall.

"Hello, I'm here! Let's get this show in the road!" Netto told them.

"_It's show time_!"

The room's door was locked and a "Dimensional Area" engaged.

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

"CF" Netto's form was unchanged.

"Heh. Your "CF" form amuses me, Nelaus."

"Guess that, Hikari."

"CF" Nelaus' helmet kept the blue coloring yet it had gained three square dots on the ear-pads and on the middle of the forehead which were colored golden, crystal and silver from left to right: a black matrix filled the rest of the helmet's surface.

His eyes were unchanged: some blonde hair came out behind the helmet.

The emblem remained unchanged and so did the armor protecting the base of his neck: yet, on the space below the emblem and before the waist belt (unchanged) the alphabet letters "N" and "S" colored in a platinum color had been drawn: the "N" was on the left and the "S" to the right of the vertical line splitting the body in two.

The shoulder design hadn't changed and the arms' patterns remained the same yet his forearms armor was different: the armor over the wrist was transparent purple in color and the Alphabet "N" letter colored green was set over it: the space over the palm had a black circle which contained a small red dot in the middle surrounded by different scales of red from dull red to crimson red.

The fingers had transparent red rings set on each one which glowed with a dull red glow.

His waist belt design hadn't been altered and his legs' drawings and knee guards were still the same.

His boots had slightly changed because they now had red and black matrixes across their whole surface and they included those "eyes" like in the space over the hands and set on both sides of each boot.

"OK! _Let's rock_!"

"_Let's smash_!"

The room's walls were covered by a matrix of green and black squares before they both were surrounded by strings of binary data and mathematical equations as they "travelled" towards a portal from which a bright light emerged: the surroundings became pathways of energy travelling towards the same spot as well.

"Here we go~!"

They both entered the portal and they emerged inside of a ruined building which was filled with barricades and several soldiers were present there: all of them assumed saluting poses and presented arms once they spotted the two of them.

"Sires! HQ has issued new objectives." A Lieutenant told both of them.

"Describe them." "CF" Netto commanded

"Sires! The enemy has appeared around the freight port island. The connecting bridge resisted for four hours, but the garrison was overwhelmed and had to fall back. This sector's bridge entrance highway is highly damaged and enemy patrols roam around. Our goals are to regain this lost terrain." The lieutenant described.

"You stay put and we'll clear a bit. Is the bridge in good shape?"

"There's no doubt about it. If we could at the very least capture the head of it then we could deploy heavy vehicles."

"Good. We'll be going." "CF" Netto drew his Rock Buster.

"Take care, Sires!" The Lieutenant saluted.

"Stay sharp in this end, too. They might try to attack out of desperation as well." "CF" Nelaus warned.

"Jet Vernier!"

"Jet Vernier!"

Both of them flew out of the building and examined the landscape: most of the city had clear signs of heavy fighting.

"It got hit heavily…"

"Yeah… Luckily the civilians were able to find shelter and we were expecting the strike soon enough…"

They soon spotted the suspension bridge where various kinds of Viruses could be seen around its structure, patrolling it.

"Okay. Let's drop directly in the entrance and take down as much as we can." "CF" Netto suggested.

"That's fine for me." "CF" Nelaus nodded in agreement.

Both of them dropped into the bridge's entrance: a file of sleeping Mettools was guarding it and they didn't seem to have noticed them.

"Battle Chip, Zeus Hammer."

"Battle Chip, Aqua Tower."

The two attacks quickly blew away the pack of Mettools without too much noise: both "Cross Fusion" fighters advanced forward along the bridge, taking advantage of the "sunset" setting to hide in the large shadows using active camouflage.

"Have a look there, Netto – kun." Saito told him.

"CF" Netto looked at the opposite end's towers and spotted AAC guns set up on top of them.

"They were _extremely_ cautious, huh?" Isaac commented with obvious sarcasm.

"They must have something which they want to deploy in that area and to make sure no air raid would bother them since they set up these AAC guns."

"Yeah. I can see a big ship of theirs docked at the port. But it's too far to make out any details." "CF" Netto added while taking out binoculars.

"I'd say we blow those up… We'll have to be a bit noisy."

"We've secured the head of the bridge. We should be able to deploy an H-4 Model Tank." Saito suggested.

"I love those things." Isaac laughed.

"I'd rather have an ID – 7 Model fighting craft." "CF" Netto commented.

"HQ? Come in, HQ." Nelaus radioed

"This is HQ. State your IDs." An automated voice replied.

"We're the Field Commanders of Charlie Squad, FC – 1 and FC – 2." Both Cross Fusion fighters announced.

"ID confirmed. What is the situation?" The automated voice questioned.

"We need a tank to disable the enemy's AAC guns and air support. There's no other way around but to bomb the port."

"We had foreseen this would end up happening. We are deploying the heavy artillery." The automated voice replied.

A gray tank which floated above the terrain appeared: its top two hatches opened and both "CF" Netto and "CF" Nelaus jumped inside.

"It's time for some action!"

"_Yahoo_!"

The tank began to move forward, knocking off the bridge some loose Viruses: it soon came close to the opposite end.

"Aiming gun… FIRE!"

The tank shot two rounds of laser energy which hit the AAC guns and blew them up in a bright flash accompanied by a loud explosion: several crafts which looked similar to the one they'd been riding in closed into the port area all of a sudden.

"The enemy is trying to unload a walking laser gun from their ship! We must intercept them before it's fully operational!"

"Roger!"

The tank finished crossing the bridge and advanced through the port's alleys while blowing up all opposition: it eventually reached the ship, which still had a large laser gun with four legs on top of its deck.

"Let's trade laser for laser! FIRE!"

The tank shot several rounds at the legs knees, blowing them away and causing the gun to hit the deck: the impact provoked sparks on the gun's circuitry which ignited the laser batteries, effectively blowing it up into a thousand bits.

"Okay! The gun's down!" "CF" Netto reported.

"Mayday, mayday! We're being attacked by an air-bone enemy!" One pilot reported.

"Jet Vernier!"

"Jet Vernier!"

Both Cross Fusion fighters flew into the sky and soon found the culprit: Shade Man.

"CRUSH NOISE!"

"Vampires never die, huh? Program Advance! Hi – Cannon, Triple Slot – In!"

"Program Advance! Fumikomi Cross, Triple Slot – In!"

"Giga Cannon!"

"Zeta Fumikomi!"

The two Program Advances hit Shade Man fully and caused an explosion: Shade Man was nowhere to be seen when it cleared.

"The enemy has fallen into D Block!" One pilot reported.

"Let's finish him off." "CF" Netto told "CF" Nelaus.

"Yeah. Let's send him back to his rusted coffin."

Both of them dropped into the D Block area and found an impact crater with nothing inside.

"CRUSH NOISE!"

The attack came from behind a set of crates which were sent flying towards them: both of them skidded across the ground until they found the beaten up Shade Man.

"Get lost."

"And don't come back, either." "CF" Nelaus added.

Both of them drew Long Swords and stabbed them on the Darkloid's chest emblem: it began to radiate light and Shade Man roared in agony.

"Let's scram." "CF" Netto told his partner.

"Roger."

Both of them ran away and heard Shade Man's explosion: a column of smoke began to rise from the spot he'd exploded at.

"This is HQ. Good job. You may rest." The automated voice told them.

"Roger." Both of them confirmed.

The whole city faded away and both of them travelled away from that "portal" until they ended up in the VR Room.

"Phew!"

The room reverted to its normal metallic appearance and the "Dimensional Area" field disengaged: both of them reverted out of the "Cross Fusion" and picked up their Link PETs before a holographic screen showing their results popped out:

VR MODE RESULTS

MISSION: RECAPTURE FREIGHT PORT

DIFFICULTY SETTING: HARD

TIME: 06: 44

RANK: A

USERS: N. RAINON, H. NETTO, ROCK MAN, ISAAC

HAVE A NICE DAY!

"It was quite exciting…"

"Sure! It was fun being Unit Commanders." Saito giggled.

"We need to do this again next week." Nelaus suggested.

"I totally agree: it helps to heat up." Isaac grinned.

"We need to go pick up your body, niisan… Let's get moving."

"Blood and Sigma went to play some game again, right?" Nelaus asked.

"Sure. _Mario Kart Wii_! Vro~m!" Netto imitated an engine's noise.

"Heh, heh, heh." Isaac chuckled.

The group of two exited the VR Room and retraced their earlier path until they reached the Electronic Lab: Netto knocked on the door.

"Go ahead!"

They both entered and found Dr. Lartes typing something on the laptop: he stopped and looked up to greet them.

"Just in time... I finished the examination. Everything was flawless, but I added some more nanomachines just in case." Dr. Lartes told them.

"Alright. Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"

Netto aimed the Link PET laser's at one of the body's open eyes: Saito soon blinked and stirred.

"Let's go back… Thanks for the check-up, Doctor."

"It was nothing. You're welcome anytime." Dr. Lartes smiled.

The three teens exited the Electronics Lab and headed back into the docking bay: Omega could be seen leaning his back against a steel pillar and humming _Let It Be_.

"Did you have fun, company?" He asked them.

"We sure did! You seem to have been doing a lot of stuff, too." Nelaus told him.

"Oh yeah… I was slicing and dicing Burner Man, Desert Man and Cloud Man." Omega admitted.

"The BDC trio, huh?" Isaac grinned.

"That sums it up." Omega grinned at the joke.

The four of them climbed into the craft before the hatches were sealed and the fans turned on reverse mode to suck the air out of the room.

"OK. Turn off gravity field and open airlock…"

The gravity field was disengaged: the airlock opened next and the craft slowly floated out of the room.

"By the way! What were those nicknames you had for that bothersome recurring trio?" Nelaus asked Saito.

"Heh. Animal Man, Flash Gordon and Sand Man."

"Not bad." Omega looked slightly amused.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Flash Gordon's descendant brings shame to his ancestor…" Sigma laughed.

"Oh. Stay quiet." Blood Shadow sighed.

"And I win this round 5-4!"

"By inches: I missed a curve."

"Inches and Curves Man and Woman came~!"

"That's lame, Sigma. Shut it up already." Omega got slightly annoyed.

"R-roger, Commander Omega."

"I wonder if something happened in the meanwhile…" Netto wondered.

"We'll get to learn when we touch-down." Isaac shrugged.

11:19 AM (Japan Time)…

"… And if you need to buy Battle Chips then there's Higureya. It's a good store but the owner is a weird fellow."

"Yeah. I get the picture."

Davis had been showing Lander around Internet City, when, suddenly, an explosion echoed close by.

"Ra~rgh!" Someone roared.

A standard Navi ran out of an alleyway wielding a large primitive club which swung towards Davis and Lander, but both dodged and landed behind the guy.

"Take Justice Kick!"

Davis kicked him in the back and the Navi met the floor and something fell off from his forehead: a Trump Card with the two of Clubs.

"This is the Sharo Nation dudes' work, then." Davis deduced.

"It'd seem this dude can attach cards to Navis and turn them crazy: talk about _original_." Lander analyzed with sarcasm.

"Mad Clubs!" A voice shouted.

Two cards flew towards them, but both dodged by jumping out of their way.

"Battle Chip, Justice Cannon! Slot In!"

"I'll show 'im who's the _Sheriff_ in 'ere!"

Davis drew a Cannon Battle Chip colored Golden while Lander drew both revolvers and spun them around before aiming towards the enemy.

"FIRE!"

Both attacks hit the enemy, making them stop when they'd been trying to rush towards them.

"Grah!"

"Show yourself." Davis demanded.

The enemy disengaged his tactical camouflage.

It was a male Net Navi about Davis' and Lander's height.

His eyes' irises were olive green and his helmet was colored yellow with random patches of brown and black on it including the "FOD" insignia in the forehead.

His main body (which was colored olive green) had sixteen small yellow stripes radiating from the edge of his chest emblem and circled it thus drawing another circle behind him with the "FOD" letters inside of its perimeter.

The emblem drawing was the "Club" symbol colored black and standing out against a white background.

The shoulders were round spheroids colored olive green with black diagonal intersecting lines crisscrossing them: the same pattern got repeated on his arms and elbows.

The forearms used yellow as main color and contained some "nerves" colored fluorescent green spreading across their surface while the fingers were painted black.

As Spade and Heart before him, he sported the leather belt with the "FOD" initials which seemed to be mandatory for all of them.

His legs' colors were the reversed ones of his arms' ones: that is to say, that they were colored black and the crisscrossing lines were olive green instead.

The boots had two bands circling them at mid-height colored yellow while they were colored white.

"I'm Cunning Club! I'm going to turn you guys into Stone Age barbarians!"

"And you're the third member we've met insofar of the Filibusters of Death, too." Lander added with a smirk.

"Deadly Clubs!"

Two big clubs materialized on both of Cunning Club's hands and he tried to hit both Net Saviors.

"Okay! Reloading is done… Eat revolvers!"

Lander shot bullets at a mad speed and different angles to allow them to ricochet and trace a web around his enemy, making his movements hard: he looked nervous.

"Battle Chip, Justice Bomb! Slot In!

Davis drew a golden-colored bomb and threw it at Cunning Club: the explosion sent him flying and he fell with his head inside of an empty garbage bin.

"Hmmmppphhh!" He yelled something but it was muffled by the bin's walls.

"That clearly shows that you're a piece of rubbish." Lander told him while smirking.

Cunning Club managed somehow to get out of the garbage bin. He now looked rather pissed off.

"Why, you…! I'm so gonna slice and dice you up!"

"You think you can stand up to _two_ Net Saviors?" Davis challenged with a big grin on his face.

"I'm the _Sheriff_! And I can throw ya into the brig!" Lander added.

"What the…! You're no ordinary civilians but Net Saviors? We didn't have you in our databanks!" Cunning Club cursed.

"Maybe I should really say I am a member of the Justice Council. Lander is the Net Savior in here. Got it, ugly?" Davis told Cunning Club with a smirk on his face.

"Who's the "ugly"?" Cunning Club scowled.

"Ye are, grunt." Lander shot back.

"Why, you…! Club Bombs!"

Several bombs with the Club symbol on them appeared on a pile next to Cunning Club: he began to grab pair after pair and throw them at the two adversaries but they both dodged with ease.

"Lesson Number 91: never toy with explosives!" Davis smiled.

"Battle Chip, Flame Sword, Area Steal! Slot In!"

Davis drew a Flame Sword and dashed forward as he drew a circle around the pile of bombs and flames originated.

"Heh, heh, heh."

He dashed away and returned to his previous position.

"Send us a postcard once you reach the North Pole!" Davis grinned.

The pile of bombs detonated and Cunning Club was sent flying by the powerful explosion.

"I shall remember this!" He threatened.

"Good job keeping him in place, Lander!" Davis congratulated.

"And you came up with a very original idea, too!" Lander replied while blinking him an eye.

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Speaking of the Devil…"

"They showed up."

"Zoan" Gate Man appeared atop a nearby building along with 12 Mettools which were aligned in rows and columns and was taunting them.

"These guys are tougher than you think they are… If you underestimate them then you'll get into a pinch. Pinch your cheeks!" He chuckled.

"METTO~!"

"Che! There they go: the smug jerks… Twilight is involved, alright."

"No wonder… Given what they did on the summer… What a weasel!"

11:32 AM (Japan Time)…

"… B-bloody them…"

"So… Have you learnt your lesson, too?"

Cunning Club turned around to spot Diamond Duchess leaning against the wall of one of their HQ's corridors: she looked indifferent.

"Hey! I thought they were civilians but one of them was of the "Justice Council" and the other was a "Net Savior"!" Cunning Club protested while spreading his arms open.

"Have you already forgotten what means being a Net Savior in the first place, Club?" She questioned**.**

"Huh? What?" Cunning Club frowned.

"Net Saviors are a force of _civilian_ Net Battlers under the supervision of the Net Police. They have permission to deal with Cyber World-related incidents." Diamond Duchess told him.

"But in Sharo Nation they are a branch of the military!" Cunning Club protested.

"They are mainly military, I know, but some civilians are joining the fray as well… But here in Japan, all Net Saviors are civilians. So don't think that any Navi you find is a useless whelp." Diamond Duchess smirked.

"Why, you…! I'll go present my report… And we'll settle this later, megalomaniac!"

Cunning Club walked away cursing under his breath while Diamond Duchess shrugged and looked unimpressed.

"That kid…" She muttered.

"I know: they won't learn." Sharp Spade added as he came out of a nearby corridor and shrugged.

"Then we better improve or else Boss is going to get ANNOYED."

"Yikes. I don't wanna see Boss annoyed!"

11:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Been a while since the last live chat, Past… How are things like over there?"

"Ah. Priest – sama. Nobody suspects anything and they don't try to impede my actions because they end up winning."

"Sure… So?"

"The "Pentagon Scheme" became the "Heptagon Scheme"…"

"Snow-white and the 7 Dwarves…! Mwroh, wroh, wroh!"

"Oh. _Aibou_. Be quiet."

"I agree with Past. Unit B: remain silent!"

"Yikes. Don't get annoyed at me, AM – dono!"

A biker was standing next to a motorbike in a grassy hill somewhere overlooking Akihara City and talking to someone over a red and orange PET they had the emblem of which was a blood-red-painted simplistic eye drawing.

This biker was about a meter and sixty or maybe slightly taller.

He was wearing a reddish sleeveless vest which was open over a black t-shirt plus jeans and sneakers.

They also had a black motorbike helmet with the PET's drawing imprinted on the forehead.

"Huh? Sorry. I feel a bit sleepy… It's late on the dawn but I just have to work on this new interface for my project…"

"Priest – sama: it isn't wise to push oneself." "AM" warned.

"I know, AM, but I just have to complete it if I want the rest of the system to be ready in the time-frame I'd calculated…"

"Roger."

"But maybe some hours' rest wouldn't make much of a difference…"

"Eh… Priest – sama?"

"What were you saying about a heptagon?"

"That Twilight's "Pentagon Scheme" got upgraded to "Heptagon Scheme" instead and there 7 Navis 3 of which we've already met… They're being weak for the time being but if cornered I'm sure they could draw out a lot more of power…" "Past" continued.

"Oh. Lovely. Huff. Not like we can do much… Just try to avoid an open confrontation and recollect as much data as you can…"

"Roger, sir. And please, sir… I think AM – dono is right and that you need some hours' rest, sir. I don't know how long you've been neglecting sleep, sir, but at this rate you'll collapse, sir."

"You're right… Oh. I just happened to find a chap who'd do fine as the 3rd member of the "Organization"… I granted them the codename "Future" and I've worked on a custom Navi for them… Their initials are DM and I'll soon introduce you two… Gotcha?"

"Roger, sir."

"Mwah, hah, hah. Weapon Man wasn't interesting enough for my taste… Maybe this fellow will prove to be far more amusing…"

"Fua~h… Huh! It's over 3AM already…! GOTTA SLEEP…!"

"That's why I said that it was too dangerous to push it, Priest – sama."

"Man. I'm becoming a tech geek and that won't do: I need some days to disconnect, go breathe fresh county air and some exercise to burn away these kilos I've gained as of late… See you around, Past. You're doing neat, my agent." "Priest" sighed and sounded defeated.

"Thank you, sir."

"Mwroh, wroh, wroh, wroh… Good luck, AM – dono."

"Thanks. We'll all need it."

"OK. Let's go back to my place and rest for a while. It's time for a ride!"

20:40 PM (Utah Time), Friday November the 28th…

"… It's incredible! This place has a Time-Space distortion all around it!"

"We'd theorized some of them but we never expected to find one on _Earth_ of all places!"

Some NASA men were checking readings taken by a laptop of the ever-so-mysterious impact crater: two chronometers could be seen acting weird, like one going too fast or the other getting stuck and jumping forward several seconds all of a sudden.

"We'll need to build a full-scale facility to study these phenomena better, man… Maybe we should bring in some physicists…" The boss suggested with eagerness.

"Yeah! Let's call Washington!"

They failed to spot a figure some meters away looking on through binoculars.

This figure wore black leather clothes which covered their whole body including a hood with goggles: it design was reminiscent of an owl's face, even.

They carried a belt spanning from the right shoulder to the left flank of the body and which had sheaths for 6 knives: it included a medallion with the drawing of an owl close to the shoulder.

Other equipment included gauntlets: the right one had metallic armor shaped like an owl's face and the left one had some sheaths for smaller knives.

They carried leather boots as well and two knife sheaths attached to the belt's waist.

The gear included two short swords' sheaths attached to his back.

"Hmpf… The "Talon" bows to the Court of Owls…"

"So? What's the catch? There's petrol there~? Or maybe they found Ridley Scott's _Alien_ there~? Or maybe they were unlucky~? Heh, heh, heh…"

"Master…" The "Talon" sighed.

"My bad. I feel in a good mood."

"No wonder. With the "Heptagon Scheme" proceeding and all…"

"Heh, heh, heh. My Cosmo Sense tells me there's catch."

"Cosmo Man… Isn't that a parody of the Spider-Sense?"

"I apologize, Commander Freeze Man, sir. I felt like it, sir."

"My clouds tell me there's Davy Jones' locker…"

"Cloud Man. Not you too."

"Lemme shine a bit, Yamato Man!"

"Hum. Don't interrupt my battle meditation!"

"Alright, alright. Let's cool it down, guys."

"Why don't you tell us what ya see, Swallow Man Of Birds?"

"Enough!" The commanding voice commanded.

"W-we are sorry! Master!"

"Anyway. It'd seem there are plans to build a facility to study these phenomena better and in more detail."

"How fitting… Just like in the "alternate" Time – Space… The Time-Space Tower… That would become decisive… But I don't believe this to be Duo either… Some spin-off or derivate…? Maybe an explorer of those guys to try to figure out the Network technology of different planets and make up a catalogue… Interesting, really…"

"Should I pull out, Master?"

"Yeah. Come back to the warp site… There's job to be done, Talon." The man commanded with some amusement.

"Roger."

"Heh, heh, heh… So! Who's our visitor? Let's make bets! Heh, heh, heh!"

13:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So… Three of five have showed their hides around, eh?"

"They're all show-offs, though…"

"Heh! They're just cheap and Uncle Cabbage has come to fire 'em 'cause they're so silly!"

"That ain't a bad joke."

The twins were talking with Blood and Sigma while sitting in front of their room's desk that same afternoon.

"Bert Saxby's abode must be overbooked by now." Blood Shadow suggested with obvious amusement.

"Mwah, hah, hah. He's gonna tell 'em to build their own abode!"

"Better yet: Whyte will tell 'em to go ransack his rivals' casinos." Netto suggested.

"And then there were no casinos." Saito joked.

"That's a good remaking of that mystery novel's title."

"And then there were no bad guys." Netto improvised.

"Mwah, hah, hah… And then there were no Cyber Punks!"

"Oh come on."

"And then there were no Ra's al Ghul _ninjas_!"

"Calling on Ninja Man He Who Is In Your Soul…"

"Oh heck."

"Mwah, hah, hah… Ninja Man honors his name~!"

"Jeez. Shadow Man. It better be worth it."

Shadow Man popped out from inside of Sigma's shadow with his classical pose: Blood Shadow fumed and didn't like how he showed up all of a sudden.

"How did you get in?"

"Easy. Sigma allowed me in."

"Sigma! When Commander Omega hears this there'll be TROUBLE."

"Did ya call for ELBUORT?" Sigma joked back.

"I'm being serious! Anyway! Shadow Man. What's the deal?"

"Miyabi helped shut down a place."

"Ah! So it's good news. Good, good. We're making progress."

"He spotted the Crimson Fighter."

"You mean the biker named "Past"… Where was this again?"

"Nagoya: or Ayogan if you want to know its Arcanus Namus…"

"Arcane Name? Oh come on. Save me the deal."

"So! Hikari Brothers… Did the God of Homework show up already?"

"That's…" Netto looked annoyed.

"…stupid." Saito groaned.

"Hah! Ninja Idiom Curse! Diputs… Staht!" He reversed the words.

Both groaned and rolled their eyes while Shadow Man chuckled: Blood Shadow was getting pretty much annoyed by now.

"We gotcha the news! So go tell Commander Beef to stop attempting to strangle Higure – san!" Blood Shadow snapped at Shadow Man.

"Oho. Not a bad idea, Wodahs Doolb. I'll tell him to ransack the Chalmu's Space-port Cantina in Mos Eisley. Y'know: where good ol' Han Solo met those fellows who wanted to go to Alderaan. Heh, heh, heh."

He vanished and the three of them sighed in relief while Sigma merely chuckled at the joke: he drew his sword and began to rap it with his knuckles in a slow and methodical manner while grinning.

"Heh, heh, heh … My _aibou_ is eager for some action! Next!"


	4. Chapter 4: Fake romance

**Chapter 4: Fake romance**

17:02 PM (Japan Time), Thursday December the 4th …

"… Phew! I've managed to complete it…"

Saito closed his notebook and stored it inside of his backpack along with the Math course book: he stretched and picked up one of his English novels.

"Let's see… This one will do fine."

"Oh? Which one did you pick?" Blood Shadow asked.

Saito grinned and showed him the title:

"The mysterious Mr. Quin: by Agatha Christie."

"You're into the detective stories world, eh?"

"Well, yeah. I'm hooked."

Saito began to read the book and sometimes wrote down one word he didn't understand.

"Hey! Saito – kun… Roll – chan is here." Blood Shadow suddenly announced a few minutes later.

"Huh? Roll – chan?"

Saito looked at the PC's screen and spotted Roll next to Blood Shadow.

"Hullo, Saito – kun."

"Eh… Good afternoon, Roll – chan… What's up?" Saito asked.

"I'm sorry if I dropped by so suddenly… But I wanted to talk about you… There's something I need to talk of…" Roll told him.

"What?"

"Hum… Would it be asking too much for you to enter your PET for a min? I'd rather…Talk it between the two of us…" Roll blushed a bit.

"Huh… Why not…"

Saito jumped into the bed and stayed in face-up position and he transferred himself into his green and white Link PET.

"OK."

Once he was inside he made sure to turn off the speakers.

"Is something troubling you, Roll – chan?"

"Truth is… Saito – kun… Have you ever… Felt something special about me?" Roll asked.

"Huh? … I'm not really sure…" Saito, as Rock Man, frowned.

"Ah… Maybe it's not the right time for it…" Roll muttered.

"I've always thought of you as a good friend. Were you expecting otherwise, perhaps?" Rock Man asked with a frown.

"Hum… Eh… No. It's okay if you think of me as your friend… Maybe the time is not ripe yet… Sorry to have bothered you… And I guess I've been overdoing it these last years with that teasing joke…" Roll quickly replied, without stopping looking nervous.

"Huh… You weren't really bothering me, Roll – chan… You're welcome anytime. And I really don't mind the teasing joke, mind you."

"Ah… Then… That person was too much of a blabbermouth… I shouldn't have thought they were so literal."

"Who told you that it was the right time for romantic stuff, anyway? A _tarot_ seer or someone like that?"

"Nah. It was a customer on an all-girls-store I go to from time to time in Internet City Block 3E… She did look like she was the Navi of a _tarot_ seer, though… She was themed after the "heart"… As in the Trump Cards, you know." Roll explained.

"Ah! That must be one of the Filibusters of Death! We've met Spade, Diamond and Club! It was obvious that we'd stumble upon a girl Navi themed after the "heart" next! So she's the 4th out of 7: we're making progress." Rock Man realized.

"She was going around telling this in on a whisper to all customers… Even Meiru – chan seemed to believe on it, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's cornered Netto – san and tried to do something similar…" Roll scratched the back of her helmet.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all."

"Say… Are you going to deal with that hoaxer?" Roll asked.

"Hmmm… Maybe you could lure her towards a discrete spot by pretending to know a store with incredible offers… I'd rather not try to intrude upon that store: it'd be pervert."

"I'll take care of that! See ya!"

Roll quickly departed the Hikari house while Saito returned to the real world and into his "cyborg body".

"Blood! We need to go to Internet City and deal with one of the FOD members!" Saito told him.

"O.K.!"

Netto entered the room at that moment.

"You wouldn't believe the silly stuff Meiru – chan has been…" He began while looking annoyed.

"Sorry, Netto - kun! But we gotta deal with one FOD member… Right away!" Saito cut him.

"Huh? OK! What kind of strategy should we use?"

"Let's use our secret ace-in-the-sleeve." Saito grinned.

"But you can engage it on your own, can't you?" Netto frowned.

"… Let's say it's for the old times' sake."

"Oho! That sounds better."

Saito transferred into Netto's PET and he entered Internet City along with Blood Shadow.

"OK. Sigma. Stay here and watch the fort."

"Mwah, hah, hah… Tell that gal to go visit Madame's Tussaud's wax museum and bring Maria's wax statue in Nebula's tanker there!"

"Oh come on. It must've deteriorated by now."

"O.K.! Roll – chan has guided her towards the Internet City Block E 7th Street Warehouse. Let's get there ASAP." Rock Man instructed.

"Lead the way."

Both Navis rushed towards the warehouse and entered it through the backdoor: they hid in the shade behind some piled wooden boxes and waited: the main door soon opened.

"Hello~! Is anyone here~?" A sweet voice called out.

Blood Shadow nodded at Rock Man and Rock Man blinked him an eye: Blood Shadow snapped his fingers and the lights turned on.

"Yikes!"

Both Navis jumped out from their hiding spot and aimed their weapons at the newcomer.

"Net Saviors! Don't move!" Rock Man announced.

"What the…!"

The newcomer was a clearly feminine Navi.

Her helmet's color was black with five purple stripes stretching across its length and the FOD initials on the forehead.

Her eyes' irises were coal and some crimson curly hair came out from behind her helmet.

Her main body's color was purple and the chest emblem was the Trumps "heart" colored crimson set upon a blue background.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and colored black with cobalt circles atop them.

The arms and elbows were colored black and some pink bands travelled across their length while forming a shape reminiscent of a DNA strain.

Her forearms were colored crimson and her fingers were purple: they contained fake fingernails colored black.

She sported the FOD belt although she had a coiled whip attached to its right side.

Her legs were colored purple and had green bands crisscrossing at some points along their length which were also reminiscent of DNA strains.

Her boots were heeled and black in color: they included diagonal crisscrossing brown patterns too.

"How rude of you! I'm Hidden Heart: one of the Filibusters of Death! Do you know what kind of witchery you pulled on me?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Witchery, you say? You're the one filling people's heads with _clichéd_ romantic stuff… St. Valentine's ain't due until February the 14th!" Rock Man protested.

"Huh? Ah! You're _THE_ Rock Man EXE! I hadn't recognized you at first… My, my… This should be interesting… I'm going to teach you the secret art, see… But its name is a taboo: so I'm going to refer to it as THE art." Hidden Heart smirked.

"Sorry. I'm not good at _tarot_." Rock Man replied with a smirk.

"You nitwit! It ain't something as stupid as _tarot_! Bah! It matters not! You shall be MY SLAVE!" Hidden Heart scowled.

"Ah. _Dominatrix_." Rock Man calmly deduced.

"Hah! So you've heard of it."

"Too bad, though. Some guys got ahead of you."

"What! Ah! The devil!"

"The devil's come to send you back to your maker." Blood Shadow joked.

"These men…!" She cursed

"We're still boys. We aren't 16 yet." Rock Man corrected.

"OK! Soul Unison: Omega Soul! Slot In!"

"Wha~t?"

"Heh."

Rock Man's chest emblem glowed with crimson light and some streaks of energy jumped out of it before a glowing crimson sphere of energy surrounded his body.

His helmet got Omega's helmet overlapped with his but the ear-pads remained unchanged: the inverted pyramidal jewel on the forehead was replaced by an eight-spoke emerald and a golden line with silver edges spanned across the length of the helmet from behind the jewel to the lower rear edge of the helmet.

His shoulder-plates became vermillion and gained white circuitry patterns over them: his arms' skin became black and his forearms' armor got a new crimson layer with a golden bracelet close to the wrist: the fingers were colored black by now.

The chest got Omega's vest over it and it included the "Omega" symbol colored in white color on both sides of it: a hole had been cut on the center to expose his chest emblem.

His waist got that curious "V" piece of armor on it which formed that cavity in the front and the rear of it.

The legs became black and unadorned and the boots also got that crimson armor with a golden bracelet slightly beneath the start of them: the soils got thicker and were colored in metallic black color.

A large flock of blonde hair formed behind the helmet and reached all the way to the floor.

He lastly got a saber weapon on his right hand colored in a bright emerald color plus the holster for it over his right hip.

"Soul Unison: Omega Soul!"

"No way~! What the heck is THAT?"

"It's simply my newest addition in my arsenal. Send us a postcard once you reach Thailand!" Rock Man grinned.

He began to build up energy on the weapon.

"Bert Saxby has a message for ya: build yer own abode!"

"Hra~h!"

Rock Man hit the floor with it and provoked an explosion which sent Hidden Heart flying, breaking through the warehouse's roof.

"I SHALL BE BACK!" She roared.

"Next time try to sell this stuff to Miyuki – san… She'll give you're her Continuous Stare of Death!" He shouted.

"Bwah, hah, hah! _Nice_!"

"You know Miyuki – san. 90% of the time she has that empty gaze which can freeze the bravest of warriors." Rock Man told him.

"Heh. _Classical_."

"But, really… A _dominatrix_ mistress…? Twilight's behind her: she must be an imitator of Anaya Maria to begin with." Rock Man rolled his eyes.

"Meh! Like they'll have it easy to sneak on us…" Netto shrugged.

"Mwah, hah, hah. Madame Tussauds will make a wax statue and label it "Hollow Heart"…" Sigma made a joke.

"Jeez."

"Dragon – sama's newest banner! "Those who have a heart of steel are likely to melt down in front of a passionate heart: beware of the ill-famed inns, oh traveler, or thou travel shall be cut short." …"

"Jeez. It's an irony which means that he shouldn't go to clubs or else he'll get into a pinch… Dragon Hell and his banners… They're helpless!"

18:08 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello~! I'm the district's new shopkeeper. It's nice to meet you~!"

A woman on her mid-30s entered a store.

She could be about a meter and seventy or maybe slightly taller.

She sported a reddish jumper and a knee-long gray wool skirt along with black shoes.

Her hair was dyed green over her natural brown color.

She had reading glasses on and carried a suitcase under her right shoulder.

"… You are not initiated."

"Excuse me?"

The newcomer just entered Miyuki's antiques store: Miyuki was, as always, looking serious and sitting behind her desk as she peered into her glass ball.

"… What might your name be?" Miyuki asked the visitor.

"Ah… I'm Elizabeth Glassy… It's nice to meet you, Ms. Miyuki…" The newcomer introduced herself.

"… You a _tarot_ peer… But your art lacks truth to it… Lacks truth and skill and subtleness… There is no communication…" Miyuki emotionlessly commented.

"Huh? Excuse me?" Ms. Glassy looked slightly uneasy.

"… Trying to proclaim your art in front of me… Shall make the enraged spirits come and inflict divine punishment upon thee lies… If you value your life, you shall not intrude this place with your fake art…"

Ms. Glassy ran off like she was going to be slaughtered alive and closed the door.

"Heh, heh, heh! Good job: you scared her, Miyuki!" Skull Man chuckled.

"It was nothing. I was merely pointing out the truth."

18:17 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Bloody him! I'm so gonna…! Wait and see…!"

"Who did you try to take on?"

Hidden Heart had been cursing as she walked down her group's HQ corridors at a brisk pace only to meet up with Diamond Duchess, who looked indifferent.

"Rock Man! It was Rock Man! He was there along with that Blood-something jerk you told me about!" She cursed.

"Oh… Rock Man, huh? He _did_ take down a lot of competency: so it was natural he'd be able to deal with you." Diamond Duchess commented: she was unimpressed.

"Grftx! I'm so gonna kidnap him and turn him into my S&M slave! Then we'll see who laughs the last!" She cursed.

"Be realistic. That Blood Shadow boy wasn't there because of pure coincidence. He and that Sigma barbarian are supposed to be his and his Operator's escorts." Diamond Duchess told her.

"Bloody them…! I'm so gonna blow 'em up!" She cursed next.

"Only _those two_ are left. But Boss seems not to be angry with us. I think we all are his guinea – pigs to collect combat data."

"Why! The nerve Boss has…! I'm gonna speak with him! I'm not a vulgar guinea-pig!" Hidden Heart cursed.

"Do as you like, _dear_." She sneered.

"GTHZKAJ!" She cursed something undecipherable.

"Oh my. Martian V 111.11?" She made a joke on the spot.

"NYA~H!"

"Ops. Neko Virus Version 2008.12!"

"I'M SO GONNA SLAUGHTER 'EM ALL!"

18:26 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So! You sent her to Thailand, eh?"

"Yeah, Blues."

Saito was speaking with Blues, who'd apparently come to visit them to get a hold of what had happened in Internet City.

"So! There's a fifty-fifty chance that the next one is either Ace-themed or Joker-themed." Blues summarized.

"That's correct, Mr. Vice President." Netto laughed.

"Oi. I heard that." Enzan told them.

"But you _are_ IPC's Vice – President! Aren't you?"

"Yeah. But I don't like being addressed like that by someone who's not an IPC employee."

"Well then… Bang the coffee vending machine for breaking down and hope it spits out the coin it swallowed 'cause it was hungry." Netto suggested, laughing.

"You don't know how many times I have to do that. I have a lot of bad luck regarding those things." Enzan sighed in defeat.

"Heh, heh, heh! I suspected so."

"Anyway… I'm gonna tell the Commissioner. Next time, though, Blues and I will be enough. That I promise you, Netto."

"There you go again with that attitude…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"I was pulling your leg."

"Be careful! You'll end up tearing it!" Saito warned with a broad grin.

"Mwah, hah, hah! That's a good one, yessir!" Sigma laughed.

"They should dance like pirates and go search the _Black Pearl_."

"They sure should. Well. I'm on my way back. See you guys around."

18:39 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Over here…"

"Over here. There. And nowhere."

"Shadow Man! Try to be quiet."

"Don't worry, Miyabi. I've set a curse on the stalkers."

"Oh yes? And what's it about, Your Grace?"

"Heh, heh, heh… To be chased by berserk Harley-Davidson bikes!"

"Lovely."

"Isn't it, _daishogun_ Miyabi?"

"I'm no Great General."

Dark Miyabi was roaming around a badly lit side alley and discussing with Shadow Man over his jokes until he found a side door and opened it: he stepped inside of a dusty locale and climbed up some wooden stairs where he found a locked door at the very top.

"Kanero! Open up. It's me, Miyabi." Miyabi announced as he knocked on it.

There was no reply, so Miyabi took out his Link PET.

"… Plug In. Shadow Man, Transmission."

Shadow Man appeared inside of a small Cyber World and found the lock program surrounded by Spark Bees.

"It's small fry, then. Shadow Clone!"

He generated multiple illusions of his own form and they all attacked at the same time, quickly disposing of the Viruses, and he reached for the lock program: he unlocked it.

"The door's open, Miyabi. Welcome to the Evil Room."

"Save me the stupid titles."

Miyabi stepped into a small bedroom and immediately spotted something which made him raise his eyebrows.

"Hmpf… Hence why he wasn't replying…"

Lying half-way between the ground and the bed was man's body: its eyes were blank and its mouth open, he had a burn mark on his chest and he simply wore a simple brown wool jumper and jeans.

The alphabet letter "A" colored black and turned 180º was painted on the wall above the bed

"… This wound has cauterized. It was a Navi's work using some light-saber imitation." Miyabi calmly deduced.

"So it'd seem. And if we take into account that firm then it must be one of the FOD." Shadow Man added.

"… It'd seem the Ace-themed Navi is an assassin as well. This could get ugly." Miyabi dully commented.

"We should call the police."

"I agree."

Miyabi dialed a number and waited.

"Police? I want to report a murder. Yes. Densan City Akoro Street 14… The name is Dark Miyabi… Yes. I'll be waiting on the entrance to make sure no – one come in… I'll be waiting… Over."

"Waiting for your fiancée?"

"I don't have a fiancée! Shadow Man: stop pulling worthless jokes."

"Who knows? Maybe they're not as worthless as you think."

"Save me the crap: what else are you up to this evening?"

"Evening Man will summon the Arcane Demon Ganon."

"Oh come on. That's a videogame character: leave me alone, will you?"

"Too bad, _daishogun_. The Joking Campaign has begun. Heh, heh, heh."

19:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oh? … Once the facility is up and running, then I'd like to take part in the investigation… Thank you for your offer. We will be in contact. Good evening."

Hikari Yuuichirou finished a call and sat down on his office's chair while seemingly thinking about it.

_A Utah desert crater is filled with space-time distortions and abnormalities and there's something totally weird with it… NASA plans on building up a facility to study the phenomena from a closer distance… And I have been invited to participate on the study of this… I'll tell Haruka and the boys although it's going to be a month at the very least before I have to go there…_

"Meijin – sama~! Your devout 666 neophytes came~!"

"Orando! Save me the worthless jokes: when will you finish the work on the HTTPS protocols?" Meijin scolded.

"When the Ancient Arcane Demon Ganon is revived…!"

"You're playing too much _Legend of Zelda_."

"Oi! Orando, Meijin! I hear it! A magical crater appeared in Utah: Voldemort's lil cousin did it!"

"What in the… That was a meteor and it somehow created that phenomenon upon impact! Now go tuna!"

"I'd rather say go beef."

"Beef and tuna!"

"C-Commander Beef! When did you come here?"

"Shark Man's under maintenance so I happened to hear the chat…"

"Oh come on. Is this becoming a circus or what?" Yuuichirou sighed.

"Tuna and beef! Higure Yamitarou! You won't rob Mariko – sensei's heart: I will be the one to go in a date with Mariko – sensei! Hah!"

09:24 AM (Iceland Time)…

"… _Oui_. I agree, _Monsieur _Vadous. That crater is no normal thing: we should try to monitor it."

A man who looked on his late twenties or early thirties: he could be over a meter and eighty tall too was speaking over the phone.

His hair was combed in a neat manner and it was colored in an orange-like coloring while his eyes' irises were blue.

He had reading glasses on.

The man currently wore a white lab coat over a shirt, brown pants and shoes.

He was sitting on red leather armchair placed behind a desk somewhere.

The room he was in contained polished wood desk which had a closed laptop on top of it as well as an interphone system: the desk also contained several drawers and there were several papers piled in the top left-hand corner: a pot with several pencils and pens was placed nearby

There were two leather armchairs most likely reserved for visits in front of the desk.

The room itself looked like an office: it had a set of five bookcases which occupied the whole length of the north wall.

The left wall was largely bare except for a custom-made light support design and an air duct cover.

The right wall had another identical light and a canvas of the Eiffel Tower.

The south wall just had the entry/exit mahogany door.

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Spimer. I feel more and more anxious with every passing day. I need to find out if something went wrong with attempt to remove Duo from the picture years ago or not."

"If it is Duo then we should find a way to actually destroy him."

"Yeah. I know. I'll think up of something." Vadous replied.

"That's good. I shall call you up once I find out more information. I have a contact on the NASA who could help me as well." Dr. Spimer added.

"That would help us a lot. Please do contact me if a breakthrough is made." Vadous requested.

"You may be assured of it."

"_Au revoir_."

"_Au revoir_."

Dr. Spimer closed his cell phone's lid and pocketed it on his lab coat's chest pocket: he sighed and leaned his elbows on the table to allow his chin to rest on top of his intercrossed fingers.

"Duo… Is it him or could it be someone else? It's too early to say…" He grimly muttered.

He opened a drawer and took out a novel which he began to distractedly read before the interphone buzzed.

"Dr. Spimer? This is Colonel Morgan… Zoan Gate Man and 8 Mettools were lurking very close to our firewalls until a minute ago."

"Heck. They could've intercepted the call… But then again all mobile calls are powerfully encoded. Not even Twilight could afford the gigantic machine one needs to decode these calls."

"We tried to chase them but they gave us the slip on the Iceland router: they surely had alternate routes to skip time."

"And I'm sure they're still on Melbourne… If only we could find a way to narrow them down..." Dr. Spimer sighed.

"I know, sir. We'll try to figure out what they could've done in the 5 minutes they spent near the firewalls, sir."

"Good. Maybe we'll have to send our agents to investigate too."

"Roger, sir. That Twilight devil… We won't let 'im get away with it!"

"Of course not. That _gredin_ deserves being told a lesson… Che."

21:50 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… This crater is becoming more and more similar with every passing day, Philip…"

"Similar… To what that "Duo" did in the Alternate Time-Space…?"

"Correct…"

"So, Lord Twilight… Have I progressed insofar?"

"Of course. Your skills are obvious. You just need to keep the concentration and make sure to overwhelm the enemy…"

Two persons were sitting in a sofa inside of a house's living room and looking at a laptop's screen placed atop a table in front of them.

The one in the left was a young man who could be about a meter and sixty tall or maybe a bit taller.

His hair was jet black and he had green emerald irises.

He simply wore a sleeveless black t-shirt, brown shorts and sandals.

"Heh, heh, heh…"

The man on the right could be about a meter and eighty tall or a bit taller.

He had a black suit over a white shirt, a black tie and pants along with shoes.

His hair was blonde and neatly combed and his eyes' irises were green emerald too.

"We'll let NASA check it out and we'll eavesdrop on them… I'm eager to figure out the secret behind it… By the way: what did you think of Hidden Heart's _dungeon_? Was it thrilling and refreshing enough for you?"

"Totally. That weird machine she had was worth my time. She was a very good Mistress. I wouldn't mind repeating the experience, Mr. Twilight."

"Good, good… Heh, heh, heh… Oh, when they see it… It'll be exquisite!"

Twilight laughed aloud while Philip formed a smug smile…


	5. Chapter 5: Gambler

**Chapter 5: Gambler**

08:48 AM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 6th…

"… Pom, pom, porom… Heh, heh, heh… De masu! My rare Chips are brighter than Alfa Centauri! Heh, heh, heh! I'm a shining man, de masu!"

Higure Yamitarou, operator of Number Man, was cleansing his rare Chips using a handkerchief and was humming a tone as he did so: he spotted a figure walking towards the entry door and he grinned.

"Ah! It's a customer, de masu! Welcome to Higureya, de masu!"

The door opened and Higure's jaw hit the floor followed by a shiver going down his spine.

Standing in front of him was feminine-like figure who wore armor over the chest, legs and shoulders: their skin was colored in a light blue color.

The head was bald and its face had two menacing red eyes.

They were holding a baby doll with a large chunk of its skull missing on its arms.

Overall, it was absolutely terrific.

"YEA~RGH! It's a monster, de masu! De masu~!"

He suddenly fainted and collapsed behind the desk, looking at the ceiling.

"Hi, hi, hi~!" The figure made a creepy pitched laughter.

It suddenly vanished and was nowhere to be seen: Higure gathered enough courage to look over the desk.

"I-it's gone? De masu? B-but Halloween was long ago, de masu!"

"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Huh? What the heck? De masu?"

Netto and Saito walked in, looking about to explode into laughter.

"Netto – kun and Saito – kun? Masu?

Netto was sporting his usual orange sleeveless vest over a white t-shirt and jeans.

Saito's outfit was largely identical to Netto's, although his vest was colored blue instead.

"Welcome! De masu! Do you need something? De masu?" Higure assumed a confident face and smiled while he clasped his hands.

"Did you see Ms. Necrofear coming in, Higure – san?" Netto asked with a big grin.

"She can be intimidating sometimes!" Saito added.

"WHAT? Ah! De masu! You tricked me, de masu! It was a doll, de masu!"

"No! It was a hologram. We used this gizmo to do it." Netto admitted.

He showed him a small tennis-ball-sized webcam-like object which had a set of lenses on the front.

"De masu~! I'm going to get angry!" Higure threatened.

"Yamitarou… This is gonna prove once and for all that you're not a "shining man" at all!" Number Man told him from the Link PET.

"Number Man! You're into this, too?" Higure questioned.

"I am. I hope you've learned your lesson once and for all." Number Man folded his arms.

"Hullo."

Dark Miyabi popped out of nowhere behind Higure and had a smug smile on his face.

"YIKES!"

Higure actually jumped over the desk from the surprise. He turned around to face Dark Miyabi.

"Da-Dark Miyabi - san! What was that for? De masu!" Higure protested, startled.

"_Ninja_ trick #39: always be in a position to gain advantage in the upcoming battle." Miyabi quoted.

"In short: be behind them." Shadow Man summarized.

"This is an outrage, de masu!" Higure hissed.

"Remember that I helped kick out that Beef Commander fool before he could strangle you, Higure." Dark Miyabi pointed out.

"You're about to make me explode, de masu!"

"Uh-oh. Shadow Man: call the bomb disposal squad. Tell them there's a live bomb in Higureya."

"Roger." Shadow Man confirmed.

"OUT! GET OUT, DE MASU! I CALL THE SHOTS IN 'ERE! DE MASU~!" Higure roared.

Everyone ran out, laughing, and closed the door: Higure expelled breath and looked rather pissed off.

"Huff! Those people, de masu…! Number Man! You're a total jerk! De masu! Grrr!" He cursed.

"_You_ are the one who hasn't learned his lesson ever since the Bowling Man incident." Number Man corrected.

"Huh! But you were the one who suggested that I should cheat! De masu!"

"I told you: _I_ learned my lesson but _you_ didn't, Yamitarou."

"Grrr! Why is everyone eager to do crackpot on me, de masu? I'm so gonna blow them away, de masu!" Higure roared.

"Pyu! That lady was scary, pyururu~!" Aqua Man

"Yeah. But this guy won't learn." Number Man grumbled.

"Pyu?"

Number Man stormed off while Aqua Man looked puzzled…

08:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Anyway… Your act of showing up near us… That was no coincidence. Right, Miyabi?"

"Of course it wasn't."

"You've got news, then."

Netto and Saito were talking with Miyabi while walking down the busy street.

"One informer was murdered two days ago. It had the firm of the FOD all around it." Miyabi told them.

"Who did it?" Netto asked.

"The Ace-themed Navi. He had the guts to sign with his letter on the scene."

"We had predicted there was a fifty-fifty chance of either the Ace-themed Navi or the Joker-themed Navi appearing next…" Saito shrugged and didn't seem to mind it.

"That's all. Shadow Man and I are going to snoop around there and there to try to find out more stuff. See you."

Dark Miyabi took out one of his smoke bombs and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"OK. Let's go rumble the crumble." Netto made a rhyme.

"Please…" Saito found it silly.

"Mwah, hah, hah. There goes my proud apprentice~!" Sigma laughed and improvised a joke.

"Quit it, Sigma." Blood Shadow scolded.

"I'm gonna quit through the nowhere door!"

"Stop imitating Vincent: let's go."

"Go and not go: let's go!"

09:19 AM (Japan Time)…

_Hmpf. I know you're close by!_

Zero was floating around the Reverse Cyber World: he hid behind a chunk of circuitry and glanced: he spotted a silhouette looking around as if wanting to make sure it wasn't being followed.

_Found you_.

The figure headed towards the direction Zero was at, so Zero prepared and waited: the silhouette flew over him without noticing his presence so Zero jumped and grabbed the figure from behind.

"Wha?"

He propelled both of them upwards towards the opening of large circular shaft before the figure could fight back: they climbed it up at a mad speed and exited into an abandoned Cyber World.

"Identify yourself, scum." Zero demanded.

The figure was lit by the orange-like glow of an active firewall and they didn't move but seemed to be studying Zero.

The Navi facing him had a white helmet with red stripes circling around it and crossing across his face beneath the nose.

His eyes' irises were of a grayish color and displayed annoyance.

He also had some black hair emerging from behind the helmet in a neatly combed manner.

His main body's color was white but it included the four Trumps symbols set on each corner of it and surrounded by red, green, black and crimson circular edges.

His own chest emblem was the Alphabet "A" letter painted black and white and set against a green background.

The shoulders had spheroid shape and were colored metallic gray with dull orange stripes crisscrossing their bodies.

The arms and elbows had been painted white and had four stripes set on the north, south, east and west spanning all their length and containing blue, yellow, red and green dots inside of them.

The forearms were colored black and had two white circling stripes on them containing miniature "A" letters painted golden.

The fingers were numbered from 1 to 10 in both hands starting with the right hand's little finger and ending at the left hand's little finger.

His waist contained the FOD belt and contained three extra round emblems with the Alphabet letters "K", "Q" and "J" colored red and set against a gray background.

His legs were colored silver and had bronze stripes running down their length until the boots.

The boots used bronze as their main color and incorporated yellowish round-shaped dots.

"I am Agile Ace: one of the Filibusters of Death! Who might you be?" The Navi questioned after introducing himself.

"My name is Zero. I suppose you've heard plenty about me."

"Hmmm… Ah! You're a freelance informer who cooperates with the Sub Space!" Agile Ace recalled.

"There's only the Joker-themed Navi left asides from your Boss, then."

"Huh? Ah. That's correct. I'm the 5th out of 7."

"We knew that already. And you killed that informer. He possessed important info about you guys, I guess?"

"You could say so, Mr. Knight." Agile Ace smirked.

"Save the P. A. for a nitwit. It won't work on me." Zero coolly shot back at him.

"Since you asked for it… Royal Straight Flusher!"

Agile Ace materialized the five cards and shot them towards Zero.

"Hmpf!"

Zero merely moved his sword swiftly and skillfully, shooting out several energy slices which burnt the cards: Agile Ace quickly dodged and tried to aim for Zero's back but Zero turned around quicker than he'd expected and shot one energy slice which hit him on the chest with one energy slice.

"Ugh!"

Agile Ace managed to land on his feet and quickly assumed a defensive pose.

"Full House!"

Agile Ace materialized another five cards and shot them at Zero: they all diverted and headed towards Zero from all directions.

"You can't run from this one!" Agile Ace proclaimed.

"Who said anything about running?" Zero shot back.

"What?" Agile Ace frowned.

"Dream Aura."

The Dream Aura formed around Zero and the cards were deflected by its energy: Zero then seemed to charge up energy on his sword.

"Zero Screen Divider!"

A green-colored energy bolt travelled across the ground, leaving a crevice on its wake: Agile Ace tried to jump to the left to avoid it, but a second attack was coming from that flank.

"Huh! Too close!"

He tried right and stumbled upon a third bolt: he soon realized that Zero was still shooting out his Screen Dividers and they were coming at him from the eight possible directions as if trying to cage him: he gasped and was seemingly trying to seek a way out.

"Damn! Flush!"

Agile Ace shot five cards towards the bolts, resulting on explosions originating upon making contact: he used the wide opening and managed to dodge the attacks.

"Phew!"

He felt Zero's sword cleaving through his right shoulder.

"GRA~H!"

He managed to jump away again and panted as he held his damaged shoulder.

"Scram." Zero demanded.

Agile Ace made a grimace and eyed his wound: it was obvious that he would be unable to continue fighting under these circumstances.

"Why you…! I shall be back! Straight!"

He shot the five cards in a row at the ground, blowing it up and opening up a new shaft: he jumped inside of it and soon disappeared.

"Go back to the foul pit you came out from." Zero muttered.

_This will teach these vermin not to mess with us._

"Metto~!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Zoan Gate Man. You lowlife again."

Zero turned around to see Zoan Gate Man and a group of 10 Mettools: he was folding his arms and chuckling.

"Play around while you can… One day you'll realize how deadly they can become when cornered, _zero chances man_." He made up a joke.

"One day you'll figure out how quick my sword beheads folk like you."

"Yikes! Remote Gate! Tactical withdrawal, Legion 64!"

"Hmpf… That was better… Disappear from my sight, you vermin…"

09:31 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Grah… Too quick… Too quick… for my pace…"

"You got kicked, huh?"

"Welcome to the club."

Agile Ace looked at his left as he walked down one of his base's corridors and spotted Cunning Club and Sharp Spade leaning against the wall and looking unimpressed.

"Che… This club will become crowded soon enough at this rate…" Agile Ace cursed.

"You better get to the repairs lab." Sharp Spade pointed out.

"W-we'll talk about this later… Ack… Grah…"

Agile Ace continued walking down the corridor while cursing and hissing under his breath.

"So? There's only one of us pending to have their debut… Maybe he'll go and prepare some trap or another?" Cunning Club asked his pal.

"Guess so." He shrugged.

"MINE~!" Hidden Heart yelled close by.

"That gal… She won't give it up? Did you try asking Diamond to cool her down somehow?" Cunning Club sighed.

"I tried and she tried but when Heart gets into those moods… Last time around I think he dragged someone into that "dungeon" of hers and spent 4 to 5 hours torturing them to have fun."

"Yikes. That's why we relocated our own rooms to be at least half a kilometer away from hers."

"No wonder."

"YOU SHALL BE MINE~! NYAH, HAH, HAH! HAH, HAH, HA~H!"

"Women…" Both sighed and rolled their eyes.

09:44 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello."

"Oh. Welcome, Zero."

Zero met with Omega in a Cyber World which seemed to be a central square: it was poorly lit and the only noticeable thing was a huge 3D image of the Earth which was slowly rotating and displaying day/night zones along with a red dot orbiting around the planet.

"I found our subject. He was called Agile Ace. I gave him a run for his foul existence." Zero summarized.

"So! We should stumble upon the Joker-themed Navi next."

"It's obvious. I'll be going. See you later."

"Let's go tell Boss the news." Omega grinned.

"No need to. I already heard it."

"Let's hope their design isn't inspired by Batman's "Joker"…"

"That'd be lame and I don't Twilight will be aiming for that."

"…soul of the gambler the fool which steps into the foul inns and stakes life and gold…" A voice was muttering in English close by and it sounded like it was echoing.

"DORAGO~N!" Vadous got annoyed.

"Inns, inns… You mean casinos." Zero grumbled.

"Someone altered it to write inn because that's where gambling used to happen… In fact you can do that in the "Inn" building _Tzar: The Burden of the Crown_ has… Bet an amount of gold… It's a method to try to gain more gold but risky because it's random…" Omega admitted.

"Huff. I still remember how Sigma messed up with the VR Simulator and we ended up becoming game sprites."

"Yeah, I know… But it won't happen twice, anyway…"

10:02 AM (Japan Time)…

"Good morning!"

"Welcome~!"

A girl entered a shop.

She looked around fifteen or sixteen years old and about a meter and sixty tall.

She had short orange-colored curly hair and her eyes' irises were blue.

She currently sported a brown leather raincoat, jeans and white sneakers.

She carried a handbag on her left hand and had the arm strap for a Link PET.

The emblem of the PET was a stylized Alphabet "F" letter colored white and black and set against a blue background which was decorated with snow drops.

The shop turned out to be Elizabeth Glassy's locale: she was sitting behind a round wooden table covered by a white mantelpiece.

Some cards were placed atop it.

Other objects in the shop included portraits of magicians and illusionists.

"Hum… I was wondering if you could read my future…" The girl told Ms. Glassy.

"But of course, dear! Have a seat."

"Thank you."

The girl sat down on a wooden chair placed on front of the table: Ms. Glassy picked several cards and shuffled them before she set them out on the table and look at them.

"Hmmm! This has a nice look to it, missy… You are currently planning on transferring into another institute. Is that not right?" Ms. Glassy told her with a smile.

"Eh… That's true, ma'am. I was at all-girls'-academy but I didn't like it and was bullied by the senior girls so I quit…"

"Hum, hum! You will meet an ideal young man there. You must be patient, though. He… doesn't know his place in the world yet."

"Excuse me? I'm not sure if I understood what you meant to say, ma'am."

"I wish I could tell you more, but… I cannot see beyond this fact. Over time, though, maybe things will become clearer…"

"… Say! What do you think of it, Felicia?"

A Navi projected from the girl's Link PET.

She seemed to be around her Operator's height at a first glance.

Her helmet was colored olive green and it had a sapphire set into its forehead which glowed differently depending on the light's angle: the helmet included a cobalt blue matrix over its surface.

Her eyes were cobalt blue as well and two twin tails of blondish hair came out from behind her head.

Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt blue instead and her emblem was the same one as in the PET.

Her shoulders were anatomically correct and had ruby plating over them while her arms and elbow were colored in a mix of blue and white decorated with emerald square dots.

Her forearms were colored orange and had eight thin pink circles circling along their length.

Her legs used a mix of blue and yellow and contained diamond-shaped brown dots scattered at random.

The boots had been painted using orange color and had zigzag patterns which vertically spanned the height of them.

"It looks very lovely, Aura – chan."

"Doesn't it? I've got a good feeling about this."

"Missy. You shall also meet someone special… But it is up to you to find out the rest." Ms. Glassy told the Navi.

"O~h! I can't wait!" Felicia giggled.

"Where is the place I must go to, ma'am? Can I know it?" The girl named Aura requested with eagerness on her voice.

"Wait a min, dear…"

Ms. Glassy picked a paper and a pen: she scribbled something into it and then folded the paper to store inside of an envelope which she sealed.

"Do not open it until you get at your home. It's our secret, dear." Ms. Glassy smiled.

"Thank you very much." Aura politely bowed.

"See you again, dears."

Ms. Glassy stood up and locked the door and lowered the blinders and also placed the "CLOSED" sign on the outside of the door: she then grabbed a cell phone from inside a drawer and quickly dialed a number.

"… Everything is just starting…" She told someone.

"… I guess it must be." A distorted voice replied.

"Heh, heh, heh. My cards say it all: I've hit jackpot."

"… So it'd seem." The voice affirmed.

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"It's not like I _choose_ to be in this post of all posts."

"It's not like I had anything to do with it either."

"Fine. Not like I'm supposed to do much anyway…"

"That's correct, Mr. Big Boss."

"Please… I'm not the big boss: someone behind the scenes is!"

"Sorry. I hit a vibe. Well then… See you around."

12:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh. Admit that it feels good, Tooru – kun."

"It does…! I never grow tired of it."

"Heh, heh, heh. Tooru – kun's ass feels good, as usual…"

"O~h… I love this moment!"

Netto, Saito and their classmate Hikawa Tooru were having sex inside of their bedroom the blinder of which had been lowered: both were laying face-up on the bed and thrusting their cocks into Hikawa's ass as he sat on his knees on the bed.

Netto and Saito had stuffed their asses with black 5cm wide silicon vibrators and a string of round white plastic anal beads: they also had a pair of clothes pegs clipped to their nipples too and Hikawa also had them on his too.

"We need a lil break from the tension which has been building up with the apparition of these 7 jerks… Well, I know we've only met 5 insofar but we'll eventually meet all 7 of them." Netto commented.

"Yup. If only that Hidden Heart girl could see me… Heh, heh, heh. Her lust would triple and she'd sell her soul to the Demon God to get her hands on me…" Saito giggled.

"Sure. But after that "24 hour endurance" game Forte and Shirakami had us go through over 3 and half years ago… Meh! We've grown to like S&M from time to time but last time we had real stuff was with Oriol a year and half ago… Too bad he had to exile himself but it had to be done."

"Maybe he's managed to finally breathe free and bury his worries and those programs which were haunting him…"

"I had a raw sex night with him on Kobe… He was good… And I know I was his first but he pretended he'd had others… He was horny…" Hikawa admitted between moans.

"Heh. This is why we "spice" our sex meetings a bit with these toys…"

"You don't regret us dragging you into this, Tooru – kun?"

"At this stage? No! It's fantastic! I missed some thrill in life." He laughed.

"OK. We're almost there: ready, Netto – kun?"

"Ready."

"Fill me up!" Hikawa pleaded.

"Here we go~!"

Both guys released and filled Hikawa's ass: some of the white stuff slid down their cocks and Hikawa had released as well because he'd been rubbing his cock and pulling his clothes pegs to feel better.

"Ah…! The tension's gone…" He made a weak giggle.

"Sure thing. Let's go for 6:9." Saito rallied.

"Oho."

"Sure…"

They changed poses so that Saito sucked Hikawa's cock while Hikawa sucked Netto's: Hikawa stuffed his ass with a spare vibrator and beads too: Netto merely placed both hands behind his head and looked on as he moaned from the feeling of Hikawa sucking his cock: Saito's one was getting hard too and they all seemed to be ecstatic.

"There it goes!" Netto grinned.

He closed his eyes and moaned as he released and filled Hikawa's mouth: Hikawa released next and filled Saito's mouth: he also released and sprayed his cock and the area around it as well.

"Heh, heh, heh. Today was intense, Tooru – kun!"

"Huff. Guess that. But you've got some sweet flavor, as usual, Netto – kun."

"Heh, heh, heh. We're sneaky boys." Saito giggled.

The three of them chuckled or giggled…


	6. Chapter 6: Ferocious foe

**Chapter 6: Ferocious foe**

08:01 AM (Japan Time), Monday December the 8th …

"… Hum! Good morning, students."

"Good morning!"

The 3-A class students were all standing up to greet the teacher.

"Today is a bit of a special day… We want to introduce a new transfer student who will become a part of this class." The teacher announced to the class.

Whispers of excitement began to fill the air and the students looked excited.

"You may come in." The teacher addressed someone outside of the classroom.

The girl from the other day, Aura, walked in.

She now sported the typical winter middle school uniform with the long skirt and the blouse and her hair was neatly combed.

She also carried her school suitcase.

"I am Tamashita Aura. It is nice to meet you." She politely bowed while the teacher wrote her name on the blackboard.

"Tamashita - san. There's an available seat to Rainon – kun's right. Please pick it." The teacher told her.

"Roger, _sensei_."

Aura walked down the first row until she reached Nelaus' desk: his desk was placed at Saito's right and Saito was sitting behind Netto: she sat down on her assigned post and smiled at Nelaus.

"Hi! I'm Tamashita Aura. It's nice to meet you."

"I am Nelaus Rainon. It's a pleasure to meet you, fair lady." Nelaus introduced himself.

"Tee, heh, heh! That sounds like a rip-off of those romantic movies!"

"Is that so?" Nelaus frowned.

"Yeah! Meet my Navi, Felicia."

Felicia projected herself with the hologram.

"Hullo! I'm Felicia."

"I'm Isaac. It's nice to meet cha." Isaac introduced himself.

"You sound more modern, you know." Felicia smiled at Isaac.

"Guess so… Nelaus sometimes has difficulties switching registers…"

"You will have time to make your acquaintance later. We have some work to do." The teacher announced.

Everyone looked forward and took out their notebooks and course books as the teacher began to dictate a lesson.

"… Guts, guts. Guts Man is the fiancé of Roll – chan."

"Really?"

"Who the heck told you that?"

"That wasn't me!"

"I know it wasn't you, Sigma."

"Then, who could've it been?"

"Dunno. Desu."

"… Shadow Man. _Again_. Messing it up…"

The Navis were getting introduced and Guts Man proclaimed something which made Roll get annoyed for real: Sigma excused himself, Blood Shadow knew it wasn't him, Glyde wondered, Ice Man shrugged and Isaac realized the obvious culprit.

"When will he stop staging for trouble at arm's length? The guy should be trying to hunt down those FOD jerks and figure out what they're doing!"

11:02 AM (Japan Time)…

"… By the way… Netto – kun… You said that your last name was Hikari, right? You wouldn't happen to be THE Hikari Netto, would you? The Sub-Champion of the N1 Grand Prix 4 years ago…?"

"Yeah. I'm the guy."

Aura was chatting with her class' students and had started to chat with Netto who admitted being the guy she thought he was.

"Wow! I'm so lucky~!" Aura giggled.

"Guess so."

"By the way… Saito – kun. Are you are his brother?" Aura asked him.

"Yup. I'm his older twin brother. But we're only a few minutes apart, really."

"I thought you had a Navi named Rock Man EXE… But instead you have a wholly different one." Felicia was commenting.

"Ah! That's because Rock Man always goes to help Papa with something at the Science Labs while we work in the institute. Sigma and Blood are with us for safety's sake… We've gotten into more than one serious mess in the past."

"Omens knock at our door."

"Nelaus – kun… You don't seem to be Japanese… Are you a foreigner?"

"I'm from Chicago… But since my uncle is a businessman who has made many deals in Japan, he taught me… I came here because I made acquaintance with Hikari and Saito there and I was interested in living in Japan." Nelaus explained.

"And I obviously came along as well."

"I'm sure we'll all get along with each other good enough."

_Tamashita Aura – san… A new transfer student..? There are 3 of them this year: the Lucky Transfer 3? Kidding. Let's go back already… Heh, heh, heh._

11:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… Oh traveler… Omens chase thee!"

"Ugra~h!"

"Shadow Man. Stop scaring passer-by guys."

"My bad, _daishogun_."

"Jeez."

Shadow Man was walking down an avenue and had scared a passer-by: he then spotted a crowd examining something.

"Oh?"

Intrigued, he entered it and spotted a big hole on the wall of a building which had been made in a violent manner: some Police Navis had cordoned the area off and were speaking amongst themselves.

"Hmmm! This looks interesting, Miyabi." Shadow Man told him.

"Let's snoop a bit around."

Shadow Man walked towards one Police Navi.

"What happened?" He asked.

"That's the weird part. People were walking down the street when, suddenly, something invisible crashed against this building's wall causing an explosion. The object responsible for this has not been found as of yet... There's also a big hole on the roof." The Police Navi explained.

"Thanks."

Shadow Man stepped out of the crowd and walked into an alleyway close by: turning invisible, he jumped into the walls until he reached the roof of the affected building: looking around, he spotted the Silver Tower's antennas.

"Hum! I'll check it out."

"I think there's some deal to that hole too."

He soon reached the tower by jumping across the roofs and spotted a silhouette hidden behind the parabolic antennas and watching the crowd from before via binoculars.

"Hah! In just another five minutes, they'll be on their way to the Reverse Cyber World! My plan is way better than the others dudes' ones!" The figure was saying aloud.

Shadow Man drew a _kunai_ and shot it towards one parabolic antenna, hitting it up and causing it to ascend, revealing the culprit.

"I found you lowlife!" Shadow Man exclaimed as he drew his _katana_.

The culprit was a male Navi.

He sported a reddish helmet with thin black vertical stripes running down the sides of its body and had the FOD medallion on the forehead too.

He had thick purple shades covering his eyes and a bit of purple-tinted hair emerged from the back of his helmet.

His helmet's ear pads were empty and had a small concave depression on them.

His body was mainly colored black yet he had vertical golden stripes, horizontal bronze stripes and crisscrossing silver stripes.

His emblem was the Alphabet letter "J" painted blood red and set against a black background.

The shoulders were built as red spheroids and they were covered by metallic cubical armor which protected their front, top and rear.

The arms and elbows used a cobalt blue color and contained slightly elongated cocoon – shaped bodies colored black.

The forearms used metallic gray in color and looked strong given his knuckles had some small needles emerging from the center of them and which could be used in close-quarters fighting.

He wore the FOD belt which included a case for the binoculars which was currently open.

His legs were colored red and had those same shapes which had been painted using a green color across their length.

The boots were also armored and the heel included a spear along with five smaller ones forming at the front edge.

"Shadow Man!" The culprit uttered.

"You lowlife must be one of the FOD." Shadow Man assumed.

"The great I's name is… Jet Joker! The last one of the Six Warriors…!" The Navi introduced himself.

"Then there's only your boss left." Shadow Man commented.

"But I doubt you'll get to see him. He's too cunning for you lowlifes."

"Hmpf. You lowlifes are all the same." Shadow Man scoffed.

"Jet Destroying Punch!"

Two small jets which got installed at each side of each of Jet Joker's feet engaged and propelled him forward: his right fist began to build up energy and he tried to hit Shadow Man: there was a cloud of smoke and, instead of Shadow Man, a doll appeared.

"_Shuriken _Needles!"

Shadow Man threw several _shuriken_ at his enemy's back: they got stuck and detonated soon afterwards while leaving several wounds on Jet Joker's back.

"Shadow Blade!"

Shadow Man moved his blade around very quickly: Jet Joker intercrossed his arms to block.

"Gruh!"

One hit detached a small device which had been attached to his right forearm which looked like a remote with a timer and currently read:

00H 02M 11S

Shadow Man quickly stepped over it and crushed it up.

"Damn! The detonator…!" Jet Joker cursed.

"Hmpf. Joke upon your own joke, then." Shadow Man sarcastically told him.

"Why, you…! You'll pay for this! Double Jet Hit!"

Jet Joker aimed both forearms at Shadow Man: they suddenly detached and shot forward thanks to some small jets installed on them as they headed towards Shadow Man at a mad speed.

"Shadow Clone!"

Several copies of Shadow Man appeared and surrounded Jet Joker: the jet-propelled forearms passed through one of them and hit the wall thus causing an explosion.

"Evil Source!"

Shadow Man jumped into the air and threw a fireball at Jet Joker: it soon ignited the ground and covered his body in flames.

"Groa~h! I'll be back!"

Jet Joker jumped off the tower and vanished in a flash: Shadow Man looked on and made sure that he was really gone.

"If your Boss won't come out then we'll go to fetch your Boss. It's my version of "If Ishikawa won't go to the mountain then the mountain shall go to Ishikawa."…" Shadow Man folded his arms and chuckled in his trademark tone of voice.

"Hmpf. Not bad."

"Thanks for the praising. My step-brother."

"Oh come on… Quit it already. It sounds weird."

"Maybe you need to find a Lord's Container?"

"A Lord's Container? Please. I'm not THAT superstitious, Shadow Man!"

11:31 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh. So you beat the dude up?"

"Yeah. He was like a gorilla, really."

"I suppose he'll send you a postcard from Mongolia."

"Obviously."

Shadow Man was talking with both Davis and Lander in one district of Internet City.

"Something tells me they're named the FOD for something… Maybe their boss is pirate-themed?" Davis ventured.

"You know… It makes sense." Lander smiled.

"Hmmm… Maybe by saying there's gonna be a naval battle in the sea he's gonna show up?" Shadow Man suggested with obvious sarcasm.

"It could work."

"Let's spread a rumor 'bout it."

"I like how that sounds like." Charles grinned.

"Let's be like the Romans." Martin added.

"Let us summon a _tsunami_ and sink them along with their second-handed fishing boat." Miyabi added with obvious amusement.

"Heh, heh, heh… No! What we need to do is place a curse on their flesh and bone and soul: and that curse will be the "YOU FAIL" curse!"

"Please…" Even Charles found it silly.

"He can't do better than that?" Martin skeptically asked.

"Maybe we need to Snatch their Boss and analyze them." Davis grinned.

"Oho. Martin did get to Snatch a Garuu once and named it "Windie" as in the Gen I Flame-Type PKMN."

"Heh, heh, heh… The Hour of Jokes and Amusements has begun!"

11:49 AM (Japan Time)…

"… The club's full by now, huh?"

"Sod off."

Agile Ace had spotted Jet Joker coming back with several wounds and quickly guessed what'd happened.

"I'm off to the repairs lab… And just that you know: it was THE Shadow Man."

Jet Joker walked away, cursing and muttering under his breath while Agile Ace shrugged and whistled a tune: he suddenly frowned and seemed to pay attention to hear two voices.

"… Oracle told me they have a plan. But they will not disclose details to me… Can't be helped, though… Oracle is Oracle." One voice with a hint of foreign accent was saying.

"Yeah. I know it, Boss. We should do somethin' with all this combat data we've assembled, don't ya think so?" A second voice with a gruff dialect asked.

"Obviously. But we firstly must finish the whole analysis… Jet Joker is inputting the data he recorded from his battle against Shadow Man. Once he's done then we can analyze it." The first voice told the second.

"What should we do 'bout ol' Oracle? Keep them as they are? Something' 'bout them gives me a vibe." The second voice asked.

"The Net Police shall soon find out about our total and supreme cunningness…" The first voice trailed off in an amused tone.

"Aye, aye, Boss!" The second voice saluted.

"Heh. Gotta agree on that…" Agile Ace muttered with a smirk.

"BOW BEFORE MY WILL, YOU SLAVE!"

"Jeez. Is that woman ever cool it down or does she need a cold shower?"

"YOU DAMNED KIDS BOW BEFORE THE ADULTS! HAH! WAIT N SEE~!"

13:04 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… It feels good, doesn't it, Darth Bapgei? You needed something genuine… As usual…"

Twilight was sitting in a chair and looking on how Philip was sitting on his knees and had some gear on.

This gear consisted on some leather bands set on his body: they formed a pyramidal shape with a stripe splitting them in half: another two bands arched over his shoulders and connected with the band circling his upper body.

He also had a thick leather collar where the apex of the "pyramid" was attached at.

His legs had been spread wide using a metallic bar connected to his ankles using leather bracelets.

He had a black blindfold on and had a white plastic spheroid with some holes on it placed over his mouth: a leather band circled around his head to keep it on place.

His cock's base had a round leather band into which another three placed south, west and east spread and tightened his balls.

Other stuff included a pair of clothes pegs connected by a string and clipped to his nipples and two sets of two pink-colored capsule-shaped vibrators above and below his nipples: their controller was strapped to his right hip while the controller for another bell-shaped vibrator set on his cock's head was strapped to the left hip.

He was sitting in front of a metallic column which was barely a meter tall and which had a metallic base with some restrains for the legs plus two wrists restrains attached to its sides: it included a piston with two thick vibrators filled with dots and which looked threatening.

His legs were also immobilized by a pair of leather belt straps along with the wrist restrains keeping him immobile.

The piston was continuously pumping in and out of his ass too.

"Hum! 12 minutes already! Your body language is telling me that you're totally savoring this… Let's go for max speed already."

He took out a remote and set the speed to "MAX": the piston increased speed and it made a shorter trip: it barely came out of the ass to pump in again several times in a minute's time: Philip's body was convulsing and he seemed to moving according to the pacing the machine set.

"Heh, heh, heh… Good, good! That's my proud apprentice… Strong and resistant… An excellent fighter… Maybe I can send him to test out Dark Miyabi even… It would be amusing to see. _Ninja_ VS Talon… Heh, heh, heh… 13:45 minutes… Let's wait until it hits the 15 minutes mark and then we'll reward him. His resistance is increasing and he doesn't faint when releasing… He actually ends up cocky… I've showed IQ – sama the results of my training and Her Grace is amused… No wonder… That's the type of apprentice she envisioned for me!" He muttered.

He walked over to Philip and removed his ball-gag to then draw his already hardened cock and had him suck it up while he set a pace by gripping his head from behind with the right hand: Philip docily began to move at the set pace and Twilight pulled the clothes pegs' string to test him but he didn't seem to have noticed it: he suddenly placed his foot over his balls and applied pressure but Philip didn't mind it either: Twilight chuckled under his breath and kept on having Philip suck it up until he released and grinned.

"14:50… 14:51… 14:52… 14:53… 14:54…" He began to count.

He gripped the vibrator on his cock's head and gripped it along with something else which was a plastic ring at the start of some thin bead urethra beads.

"… 14:55… 14:56… 14:57… 14:58… 14:59… Time."

He pulled both of them away at the same time and Philip let out a large moan of pleasure as he released in several strong and vigorous spurts and stained his sweating body: he kept at it for almost a whole minute before his cock got flaccid and he began to pant to recover his breath: Twilight began to stop the vibrators and chuckled aloud.

"Heh… Heh, heh, heh… Ah… Refreshing!" Philip exclaimed.

"Isn't it?"

"Yes, Master… Totally!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Good. I'll release you. That's enough for today: you mustn't push it, Philip."

"I understand."

Twilight released him and Philip calmly removed the stuff on him and the gear before picking his clothes and dressing back again: he picked some water, a sponge and disinfectant: he used those to clean the machine's vibrators and the rest of the stuff while Twilight had come out by climbing up the stairs: Philip hummed a tune.

"_Let the bodies hit the floor, the let the bodies hit the floor_…"

"_OH YEAH! RET ZA SANDAAZU HIT ZA FUROAA!" _

"CLOUD MAN!"

"T-Twilight – sama, sir!"

"What happened to the security? Where are the others?"

"T-the others wanted to go get up to date in Japan Internet City and Zoan Gate Man went to snoop in the Net Police HQ…"

"Security! You're in charge of security you half-Navi half-cloud mutant!"

"I s-shall not offer any apologies! I suddenly got in the mood, sir!"

"GHKZBAT!" Twilight growled something undecipherable.

"It shall not happen twice, oh Twilight – sama!"

"Nya~h! Types like you lowlife make me feel… RABIDLY! OVERWHELMINGLY! VEHEMENTLY DISGUSTED!"

"Yikes."

"Cloud Man… Always asking for trouble…" Philip rolled his eyes.

12:30 PM (Japan Time)…

"… By the way, Felicia… "They" were right, eh?"

"Truly, Aura – chan, truly…"

Aura was taking profit of the small break between one class and the other to exchange a hushed message to Felicia who giggled.

"Guts Man will marry Roll – chan on the 31st of February, 2009, guts."

"… Oh come on. Shadow Man's gotten too weird now." Blood Shadow groaned in annoyance.

"There's no 31st of February and 2009 isn't a leap year then it'll have 28 days in February. This year was a leap year, true." Sigma muttered.

"That _Ninja_ jerk!" Roll protested.

"Trouble." Glyde sighed.

"Trouble, desu." Ice Man sighed too.

"Jeez. That guy…" Isaac complained.

"Heh, heh, heh. Joe "Bazooka" sends his greetings."

Shadow Man showed up from Blood Shadow's own _shadow_ as if to make an irony and Blood Shadow groaned.

"Shadow Man. How the heck did you get inside this time around?"

"Oh. I picked a student without Navi and registered as his Navi. The name's Arushi Masuko, I think… 3-B."

"Arushi – kun! He won't be amused to figure out that you tried to pass off as his Navi." Blood Shadow scolded.

"He doesn't need to know, Shadowed Bloody."

"What the HECK was THAT?"

"It doesn't rhyme, man." Sigma sighed and didn't seem to find it funny.

"Too bad, Amgis _tai-sa_."

"Colonel Sigma? Me? Don't troll me, Shadow Man."

"Oh. We've got a new face… A fair lady who has come forth the cruel and unforgiving Siberia, I take it?"

"Oi! I'm not from Siberia: I'm a 100% Japanese Navi! Felicia's the name, _Ninja_ Man!" Felicia protested with some annoyance.

"If you don't mind it, though… You can also call me "Daishogun Shadow Man"…" He chuckled.

"So? Did anything important happen?"

"Oh. Truly. Jet Joker: I gave him a lesson when he was trying to use a bomb he'd set after wrecking part of a building… He tried to draw a lot of curious and then make it detonate to cause a terrorist attack but I managed to crush his detonator… I'd say he's Breaker."

"Hum. So the 6th showed up already. We're pending the Boss."

"I had a chat with Davis and Lander and they suggested spreading a rumor that there's going to be a naval battle somewhere… We believe the Boss is pirate-themed to match the name of their gang…"

"That's logical. I mean, filibusters pillaged ships and all." Isaac replied.

"Well. A little visit to Ms. Wikipedia told me "filibuster" was first applied to those who attacked colonies and ships in the 16th centuries and one famous figure was Sir Francis Drake… It then became to describe adventurers embarking in freelance military adventures and then became a political term… But, in essence… It's considered a synonym of "pirate" as well…" Shadow Man explained.

"So maybe they have a similar name… Maybe Daring Drake in honor of that Sir Francis Drake…? I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight wanted to make some sarcasm or irony when naming or designing the guy…"

"Excuse me, but… What are cha guys talking about?"

"Well… Shadow Man faced a guy from a criminal organization named Filibusters of Death which have been causing trouble…"

"And you're trying to guess the Boss Navi's design? But who is Twilight, anyway?"

"A criminal… Didn't you see the news of the DNN hijack about 4 months ago? He was the blonde guy there…" Blood Shadow explained next.

"Ah! I remember, I remember… I thought he'd been arrested."

"No. He pulled a stunt on us and is hiding somewhere overseas: he came up with these guys to keep us busy while he does something. If we beat them then the guy will surely show up so…"

"Mwah, hah, hah. And when that day comes… My _aibou_ will pound and ground the guy!" Sigma chuckled and rapped his knuckles against the Sigma Sword's body, as usual.

"Don't get cocky." Isaac warned.

"No! I'll get non-cocky."

"Oh come on." Blood Shadow complained.

"Tee, heh, heh. It'd seem Sigma – san's humor is too much for cha guys to handle, eh?"

"Cha don't know half of it: and when that guy over there and he work together then they drive you MAD. Welcome to the craziest city ever, Felicia." Roll sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You haven't met my Operator yet." Glyde warned.

"Huh… Trouble, desu." Ice Man sighed.

"Oh my. It'd seem this is going to be far more amusing that the all-girls'-academy I was at until recently and which we began in September… Aura – chan got high scores there but she didn't seem to mix in well enough with those spoiled girls so she decided to quit and we got recommended this place." Felicia giggled.

"Heh, heh, heh! Heh, heh, heh! Come, Dracula Drake. I'll be waiting!"

"Jeez. That rhyme is silly, Shadow Man… Give us a break already!"


	7. Chapter 7: New age Buccaneer!

**Chapter 7: New-age Buccaneer!**

09:45 AM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 14th…

"… 3 extra minutes granted to this match of Densan Maniacs VS Nagoya Roughnecks! The counter is 2-2 and whoever scores in these 3 minutes will earn victory!"

"Go! Rooda!"

"Smash them! Buzan!"

"Stop that ball, Shiren!"

"Blow them up! Gen!"

The Internet City Coliseum was filled with activity, as usual: a cyber soccer match was on its final stage, the extra time, and both teams were matched in score: the public in both sides was cheering for them.

"Nagoya Roughnecks' Rooda kicks: pass to Buzan! Buzan runs! Kick! HUH! THAT WAS CLOSE! Densan Maniacs seizes the ball! 90 seconds left!"

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Score it!"

"Denan Maniacs' Shiren passes to Gen! Gen takes the chance against Nagoya Roughnecks' goal-keeper, the intimidating Orezo!"

"Don't mind 'em! Go, go!"

"Block it!"

"He kicks and… GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!"

"No way…!"

"_BANZAI_~!"

"That was very close! There were just 40 seconds of extra time left!"

"_Banzai_~!"

"Oh man."

"The next match will on Tuesday: Densan Maniacs VS Hokkaido Diggers!"

The spectators began to steadily leave yet Zoan Gate Man remained hidden in one of the corridors leading to the grades and looking out along with 16 Mettools forming a queue at his left: he was crossing his arms and glancing towards the field.

"The match's over so it should be about to begin, Twilight – sama."

"Good, good. Dispatch the Mettools! I want them to film it all and we'll then upload it into Youtube while I send copies to all major TV stations: now the world will realize what the FOD can do! OUR Heptagon Scheme will prove its worth here and now!" Twilight eagerly exclaimed.

"You heard him. Move it: Units 23 to 48."

"Metto~!"

The Mettools ran out and began to pick different positions and seats taking profit that over 90% of the public was gone by now: all looked towards the central field.

"They're coming… I guess you'll see it in less than 60 seconds from now."

"Roger."

"Well… Episode 572 wasn't half-bad either… "A way to befriend Pokémon?"… Satoshi will soon get his 6th badge already… It's better to watch them on the original, yeah. I get to know everything earlier." Philip was muttering aloud.

"Isn't it? Heh, heh, heh." Twilight chuckled.

"Hum. I see something… I think it's them."

"Yeah… There they come~!"

A blue stain suddenly appeared on the field: it began to expand until it formed a circle spanning the whole width of the platform and water began to pour from within it until it turned the whole floor ground into a pool.

"Heh, heh, heh… Coming, coming… COMING! _KURUZO~_!"

"Twilight – sama is too cheery today." Zoan Gate Man sighed.

An old sail-moved wooden-built ship emerged from inside of the pool: the ship had the Jolly Roger flag waving on its topmost sail tower.

The ship's hull was full of algae and some pieces were rotten while the figure at the head of it was a hammer shark.

The name was printed on the sides of the front and in the back of the ship:

"S. S. DESPAIR"

The ship cannon's compartments opened and the cannons emerged: various standard Navis dressed like pirates filled the deck, going up and down, mainly to adjust the sails.

Standing on the bridge and in front of the control wheel was a wholly different Navi.

He was tall, about a meter and ninety, more or less.

He sported a ragged bluish/greenish cloak which hung from the back of his shoulders: it covered his main body.

Other clothing included a hat with two cutlasses drawn on its front.

He sported an eye patch over his right eye and some jet-black colored beard had formed over his face.

His normal eye's iris was colored purple.

His emblem was the two cutlasses set against a sea blue background.

The shoulders were anatomically correct and colored in that same bluish/greenish coloring.

The arms and elbows had sea weed attached to them and were covered by partial remains of the jacket's sleeves exposing simple black skin beneath them.

The forearms were colored black and had some cuts and scratches to them while the right hand's fingers were colored in a rusted metallic color instead.

His left hand had been replaced by a hook.

He sported the same belt as his subordinates that seemed to keep a pair of "pants" on place which also had a worn down appearance and revealed some of the original black skin.

The left boot was colored using a brownish dust color and he had a wooden leg in place of his right boot.

"Ho, ho, ho! Hand me the bottle of rum! We're gonna loot this whole city 'till only ruins remain! Get ready to fire and raze, lads! This girl's wishing action!" He spoke in pirate dialect.

"Aye, aye!" The pirate Navis saluted.

The cannons began to shoot out real iron balls which impacted on many spots around the stadium: the ship opened a secret compartment at the head of it and shot out another cannon ball towards one of the stadium's walls, weakening its structure.

"Quite a show…" Zoan Gate Man muttered.

The water pressure formed cracks on it and it eventually collapsed, making the water escape the stadium and begin to flood Internet City's alleyways.

"Ho, ho, ho! Keep at it, lads! We're gonna pocket a big loot! Our girl's getting happy!" The Navi told them.

"Aye, aye!"

The ship sailed out of the Coliseum and began to shoot out at random.

"Huh? Multiple Plug-In signatures… They came! I stationed Mettools 39 to 44 in the scheduled route!" Zoan Gate Man reported.

"Excellent. Let the bittersweet drama start!"

Various Navis suddenly landed on the deck: Davis, Lander, Shadow Man, Search Man and Blues.

"Stop right there!" Everyone shouted.

"Ho, ho, ho! The Net Saviors are 'ere! I'm the shipmaster of this nice little girl! My name is Buccaneer Man, lads! I'm the most terrific Buccaneer of the Seven Seas, lads!" The lead Navi introduced himself.

"So… You decided to make the rumor we purposely spread come to be reality, huh?" Blues assumed.

"Ho, ho, ho! Correct, lads! A man always shows his face, lads! Learn this, lads!" Buccaneer Man laughed.

"And you must be the leader of the FOD." Shadow Man guessed.

"Wasn't it obvious, lads? My fellas! Get 'em! We're gonna have them be food for the sharks!"

"Aye, aye!"

The pirate Navis began to take out cutlasses and old-style guns which shot lasers instead of bullets but took a while to recharge nevertheless as if to make it more realistic.

"While you lads deal with my lads, I'm gonna go and get the big fishes! See you around, my lads! Ho, ho, ho!"

Buccaneer Man suddenly logged out from the ship while the Net Saviors kept on fighting the ever-increasing crew of the _Despair_.

"Scope Gun!"

"Blues Sword!"

"Shadow Blade!"

"Justice Bomb!"

"Revolver Shooting!"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh… Struggle and wriggle!" Zoan Gate Man chuckled.

"Damn it! They keep on increasing! Let's split!" Blues commanded.

"Try to lure them to a tactical spot!" Search Man suggested.

"Easier said than done! Come! _Kaizoku domo me_." Shadow Man grumbled.

10:10 AM (Japan Time)…

"… We should try to pull off a big joke on either Hinoken or Count Elec. It'd be lovely to see their reactions."

"Our little gizmo can do wonders from time to time."

"It sure can!"

"Well. Let's see how Dr. Wily will hold them back."

Netto and Saito were walking down a street and chatting with Sigma and Blood Shadow when the ground suddenly shook and four "Dimensional Converters" emerged from different spots around the area.

"What the…? Dimensional Converters…?" Netto cursed.

"It looks like the work of the FOD!" Saito added.

As if replying to their suspicions, Buccaneer Man materialized in front of them but, before he could notice them, both Netto and Saito ran into an abandoned building.

"Time for some Cross Fusion…" Netto whispered.

"OK."

"I'll cover Saito. Hikari, Blood. Go blow the guy or else teach him a lesson on showing up asking for trouble." Sigma whispered.

"Deal." Blood Shadow whispered back.

Saito sat in the ground and transferred his consciousness into Netto's Link PET as both Sigma and Blood Shadow materialized: Sigma stood near Saito's unconscious body to protect him while Netto took out the special "Synchro Chip" he'd been given a few months ago.

This "Synchro Chip" included a central brownish dome with an emerald edge and eight straight spokes radiating from it in all eight directions: the purple "V" logo was set on place of the Hikari family crest which had been displaced to the body just before the contacts.

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

Netto and Rock Man performed "Cross Fusion" sans a hitch and exited the building along with Blood Shadow.

"Stop right there! You cheap _Pirates of the Caribbean _rip – off! Face the Net Saviors!" "CF" Netto told him.

"There you are, Hikari Netto and Rock Man! I'm gonna drown you in the Atlantic Ocean!" Buccaneer Man proclaimed while drawing a cutlass and aiming it at him.

"I'll trade sword for sword. O – Program, Execute!"

The red streams of light emerged from "CF" Netto's chest emblem and his body was surrounded by a bubble of red light: when it cleared, "CF" Netto had gained the "Omega Soul" armor and his O – Saber.

The "Omega Soul" combined with the "Cross Fusion" wasn't much different but the helmet's flanks were redesigned so that his original ear-pads were visible and it included a face-mask colored black.

Other minimal changes included a waist holster for a gun and another waist holster for the saber which had been relocated from the right hip's position.

"By the Jolly Roger! What's that?" Buccaneer Man uttered.

"It's my "kick-'em-all" technique!"

"Grftx! Let's board them, lads!"

Buccaneer Man's hook hand was replaced by a normal one and he had a chain with a hook on it: he shot it towards "CF" Netto.

"You're mine!"

"CF" Netto ducked and dashed forward towards Buccaneer Man at a mad speed while leaving "afterimages" of his own on his wake: he reached Buccaneer Man and began a combo of saber moves: he moved up, down, left, right, rolled around, swung it around to emit energy waves, made an uppercut, landed with the blade pointing downwards and he stabbed Buccaneer Man's upper torso before unleashing a charged attack on him.

"GROA~H!"

"CF" Netto dashed back to his original spot and remained ready: when the smoke from the explosion cleared, Buccaneer Man was clearly damaged due to the combos.

"W-why, you…! Come forth, Terror of the Seas! Kraken!"

A gigantic whirlpool formed on the street and various large octopus-like tentacles began to emerge and wave around.

"The Kraken's gonna grab yer ship and sink it to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean!" Buccaneer Man laughed.

Blood Shadow suddenly jumped towards the thing while cutting through the tentacles using a red curved sword with a saw-like edge having many teeth there.

"I wonder about that!"

"What! Where did that lad come from?"

"From your rusted and decayed Davy Jones' Locker..."

"Wha~t?"

"Hah! Good one, Blood!"

The central body emerged and opened its mouth wide: Blood Shadow took out a silver-colored sphere and threw it inside of the monster: he landed on top of it and placed the two barrels of his shotgun against its body.

"Be gone, foul creature! Charged shotgun shot!"

He shot the twin barrels: their combined powerful blast cleaved through the Kraken's body and the recoil pushed him back just as the bomb he'd threw in before exploded thus taking out the whole of it.

"MUGROHA~H!"

Blood Shadow gracefully landed on the ground next to "CF" Netto and grinned.

"Good work, Blood!"

"Thanks, fellas."

When the smoke cleared, Buccaneer Man could be seen standing there with his jaw wide open.

"By the Jolly Roger! The Kraken has been destroyed!" He uttered while being obviously taken aback.

"If you don't want to join your pet in a watery grave then ye better call off the expedition _now_." "CF" Netto aimed his O – Buster at him and tried to put up his own version of the pirate dialect.

"By the Jolly Roger! T'is ain't the last ye'll see from me!"

Buccaneer Man de-materialized and departed from the area along with the cyber water: the "Dimensional Converters" powered down and the "Dimensional Area" faded.

"In the end the guy wasn't THAT much of a deal, eh?"

"Maybe they're weak at the start and they then get harder. Remember how much of a hard time the Darkloids gave us on the summer."

"Oh man. Cosmo Man almost ripped off my arms… Luckily Twilight was there to stop the jerk!" "CF" Netto groaned.

"More like the mad guy." Rock Man sighed.

"Mwah, hah, hah… They went down with a groan and a loan." Sigma made up a rhyme.

"That's silly." Blood Shadow complained.

Netto reverted out of "Cross Fusion" and quickly ran towards the building where Saito's body was at: he discreetly plugged him back inside of the body and he stood up, shaking some dust off his vest.

"Alright. Let's call the others: we'll figure out if we're the first to meet them or they've already showed up elsewhere." Saito suggested.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Their own locker is full of sea lice and slice!"

10:28 AM (Japan Time)…

"… By the Jolly Roger!"

Buccaneer Man uttered another curse upon seeing how his ship was mostly destroyed and looked about to sink at any moment.

"Game Over." Lander told him.

Buccaneer Man grabbed the control wheel and spun it 360º all of a sudden.

"A Capt'n always goes down with his ship! Farewell, my lads! We'll be back, by the Jolly Roger!"

The Net Saviors jumped off the ship just as it sped back towards the spot it'd appeared from and sunk in the hole.

"There they go…" Zoan Gate Man muttered.

The water dried in a matter of a few minutes and everything (save the destruction at the Internet City Coliseum) was back to normal.

"They sure put up a show… Why would he want to show up in the Coliseum, anyway?" Davis commented.

"That's easy! The Romans used to flood the arena of their amphitheaters and recreate naval battles on them. They surely got inspired from that historical fact." Martin told everyone.

"It sure makes sense." Search Man commented with a smirk.

"The maintenance teams will take care of the rest. Why don't we go report to Commissioner Kifune?" Blues suggested.

"Let's then go to have a party at Maha Ichiban's to scare the beard off Hinoken." Charles suggested.

"I'm in." Miyabi announced with a hint of amusement.

"Last one to get there pays the drinks!" Lander announced.

"Oi! That's not fair!" Davis protested.

"Hmpf… Be cheery while you can… You don't realize the grace to this show: soon you will regret underestimating Twilight – sama's intelligence, you lot…"

"Gotcha."

"Huh! Omega!"

"Why! If it isn't D'Artagnan. Is our buddy Light Amplified by Simulated Emission of Radiation Man behaving already~?"

"Liquid. Show me your moves."

"I'll show you my RAY."

Omega had suddenly crept into Zoan Gate Man from behind and gripped his neck with the left arm while he aimed his saber at the neck: Twilight wasn't surprised and pulled some sarcasm on him which Omega shot back with a challenge.

"Shit."

A loud mechanical scream rang out and Omega spotted the Metal Gear RAY model from _MGS4_ standing there and the "Talon" atop it while having their arms crossed.

"Omega EXE. The Court of Owls sentences you to… Erasure!"

"Remote Gate!"

"Fuck."

Zoan Gate Man used the chance to "dive" into the Remote Gate and escape while the RAY opened the mouth and loaded what seemed to be a plasma cannon given its crimson glow.

"What! You changed the water cutter for a plasma gun?"

"Check it out in the year 2013! Desperado Inc. sends their greetings!"

"Damn it. This is outta my league. Tactical withdrawal!"

Omega escaped just as the blast scorched the whole corridor…

10:34 AM (Japan Time)…

"By the Jolly Roger… What a day!"

"Welcome to the club, Boss."

Buccaneer Man had been walking down the usual corridor when he stumbled upon his subordinates looking unimpressed.

"Yeah. I get the joke… Do as you like."

"Who beat you, Boss?" Hidden Heart asked.

"Those two lil pests and that red blood pest…! By Davy Jones' Locker! I'll remember this yet!"

"Navis don't forget." Diamond Duchess muttered.

"Of course not…" Agile Ace shrugged.

"What a morning." Jet Joker rolled his eyes.

"Next time around we'll be stronger." Sharp Spade tried to cheer them up.

"Hum! That's true! Anyway! I'm off to talkin' with Big Boss."

Buccaneer Man headed away down a corridor while Diamond Duchess signaled for Hidden Heart to follow her: they headed down another corridor and stopped there.

"Heart, dear… Why don't you give it up?"

"I'm not the type to give it up, Diamond."

"Huff. Just don't make the whole of them come after us: they outnumber us 2:1!" Diamond Duchess rolled her eyes.

"Yikes. Alright. I'll try to be careful and lie down 'till I see a chance."

"Now that's the wise thing to do. I approve of _dominatrix_ 'cause we need to demonstrate our strength and power to those dirty guys out there but we gotta be subtle or else you run into trouble."

"Gotcha, Diamond… Rock Man… Stick out cha neck! Tee, heh, heh!"

10:42 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Hum, hum! _Rock the rocking rock_!"

Count Elec was cleansing a table when he saw a silhouette out on the street which seemed to be running towards the door.

"_By George_! The door…! You'll crash against the door! _Stop_! _Halt_! The doo~r!" He yelled.

Count Elec closed his eyes and plugged his ears, expecting the person to break through it. Instead, the door opened in its normal manner.

"Huh? Ah… Welcome to…!"

He had opened his eyes to greet the customer, but was met with a terrific vision.

He was facing a humanoid figure dressed in some kind of tunic of various colors: the face only had a mouth on it and the rest of it was blank.

Two doll heads, of a girl and a boy, were attached to the shoulders.

"GYA~H!"

He ran out like he was going to be slaughtered alive and slammed the storeroom's door close: the monster became transparent and dissolved into thin air.

"Good morning!"

Charles, Miyabi, Laika, Davis, Martin and Enzan walked in.

"Welcome to Maha Ichiban's." Maha greeted.

"Hum… Would it be possible for us to have a table for six?"

"That will be no problem. There you have."

The group of six sat around the table and requested what they wanted: Hinoken came out of the kitchen and banged in the storeroom's door while rolling his eyes.

"Elec! Man! It was a hologram! Come out!" He was pleading.

"_No!_ _I'm not coming out_! _By George!_" Count Elec replied with his accented English accent.

"Have it your way, Elec…"

Hinoken shrugged and walked back into the kitchen.

"YEA~RGH! Maha! Come here! Come here! We're doomed! I knew it!" He suddenly roared.

Maha walked inside while the others paid attention.

"Oh! My! It's a cute penguin! Maybe it got lost after escaping from the zoo?" Maha could be heard wondering.

"No! Don't you remember? Freeze Man used these to freeze the whole country over four years ago! I remember! His ghost is living inside of this thing: and it's gonna freeze all of us!" Hinoken could be heard saying in a rush.

Charles chuckled and took out the hologram projector, which was on: he pressed the switch and turned it off.

"What! The penguin is gone!" Hinoken exclaimed.

"Ghosts don't exist, Hinoken." Maha told him.

"Ghosts…? Ah!"

Hinoken came out of the kitchen walking at a brisk pace and stopped next to the table of the group of six.

"Morgangantz! It's your stupid hologram projector! Ain't that right?"

"Who knows?" Charles smiled.

"I'm so gonna…!" Hinoken raised his arms.

"Ahem, ahem!"

Hinoken felt a shiver go down his spine and spotted Dr. Wily, Dr. Regal and Yuriko sitting on the farthest table.

"Hinoken! What I told you about _mannerisms_?"

"A-ah! D-Dr. Wily – sama! Eh… Hum…!" Hinoken's teeth were dancing from the nervousness.

"That of the penguin plan was idea of my robot. I only was concerned upon rebuilding Pharaoh Man's Ultimate Program to create "Gospel"… I didn't care much for what my robot did in the meanwhile." Dr. Wily shrugged.

"I-I knew it, Dr. Wily – sama, but…!" Hinoken tried to argue.

"No "buts", Hinoken. You're making a fool of yourself." Dr. Wily told him while glaring at him.

"I find it too suspicious that you're always here when one of these guys comes over, Dr. Wily – sama!" Hinoken told him.

"I'm a nomad. But this is my favorite spot. Do you have a problem with it?"

"… Roger, Dr. Wily – sama… By your orders…"

Muttering curses under his breath, Hinoken walked back towards the kitchen at a brisk pace.

"Aup, aup!" A voice could be heard.

"What the…! It's that dog-shaped Virus! Where has it been all these years? I find too suspicious for it to show up right now!" Hinoken could be heard yelling from inside of the kitchen.

Rush ran out of the kitchen and appeared next to the table.

"Aup, aup!"

"I guess he's been doing a worldwide tour… I saw him three months ago in Scotland." Martin commented with a smile.

"If memory serves… He was programmed by Hikari – hakase, right?"

"Yeah. And F&S used him to create a materialization program so as not to depend from "DAs". They couldn't use "Copy Roids" to materialize since they were not invented until over a year later." Enzan confirmed.

"Do you want something?" Charles asked him.

Rush grinned and took out sunglasses: he put them on and made a victorious pose.

"He must think he is a true man." Miyabi commented with obvious amusement.

"Heh! Shah, shah, shah! He'll beat Pikachuu as the most popular Monster ever!" Needle Man joked.

"Oh come on." Yuriko complained.

"So, Regal. Is Laser Man behaving?"

"He is. Of course, he's monitored 24/7 just in case. And now something's begun to bug me… Like I'm forgetting about something important which I arranged for years ago but it's too vague… I can't remember much and I may be getting the wrong idea." He rubbed his chin and looked somewhat worried, for once.

"Hum. Well. Maybe it's just that."

"_Au revoir_."

"Huh? Who…?"

A guy wearing a grayish raincoat and a brownish hat with a black stripe walked past Charles' and the others' table and left a visiting card there while stepping out into the street: Hinoken was picking the bill and the payment and heading for the counter in the meanwhile.

"Huh? Kanou Saizou: _kage no keikakushi_… Shadow Schemer?" Martin read aloud, wondering.

"Kanou Saizou? But wasn't the 3rd "Admin" named Kanou _Shade_?" Enzan frowned and was seemingly recalling.

"… Twilight. That was friggin' damned Twilight with an irony on Kanou's name because it's gotta be based off this character!" Charles growled.

"The _dourak_ shows up and disappears when he feels like it, really!"

10:53 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Ahem! I'm Commander Beef! Speak up! Who's the boss of the FOD?"

Commander Beef was interrogating a suspicious individual in an alleyway near a pub.

"Whaddya say? The FOD, ye say? Those guys are some Sharo Nation punks! I care not about whom the heck they are and what the heck they do." The individual shot back.

"Hum! Fine!"

Commander Beef walked away and headed towards another building which he entered having a confident smile on his face.

"Good…!"

"Kya!"

SPLASH!

Commander Beef suddenly found himself soaked in cold water and was baffled.

"Oh? Huh? Ah! Commander Beef…"

"What does this mean, Saloma?"

Saloma, Wood Man's Operator, had a watering can on her hands: she looked a bit nervous.

"Sorry! I found a spider while watering the flowers and I accidentally waved the watering can around, spilling the water… I didn't realize you'd come in…" Saloma admitted.

"If that was why, then it's no problem… Acho~!"

"… Oh my… Did you get a cold? You should have some hot tea to deal with that. Here: see." Saloma offered.

"No! That won't be… Acho~!"

"It will be necessary, Commander Beef." Shark Man insisted.

"Nothing is better than a good hot tea cup." Wood Man added.

"Jeez! You guys win…" Commander Beef grumbled.

"Do you mean US? Tee, heh, heh."

"Jeez. Jasmine. Do you think there's anything worth it here?"

"We're trying to figure out about the two humans who are involved with the FOD after all apart from Twilight."

A girl on her late teens or early 20s walked into the store.

She could be over a meter and eighty tall and had short black hair.

She wore a black long-sleeved t-shirt along with black jeans, fingerless black gloves and black sneakers.

She also sported a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

She also wore a utility belt with two knife cases and two gun pouches.

"So! Justin & George. Are we gonna show Commander Tuna & Beef how it's done?" The girl, Jasmine, called out.

"Let's not overdo it either…"

"Don't worry, Justin."

Two guys came in: they seemed to be about her age and height and were told apart by their hair colors: green and blond.

"W-who are you guys?"

"Cypher's 3 Elite Field Agents, Masa – sama~…"

"Who is Masa? I'm Commander Beef & Tuna!"

"It was obvious from the very start." Saloma rolled her eyes.

"Wasn't it?" Wood Man sighed.

"This guy…" Shark Man sighed next.

"No! I insist! Commander Beef & Tuna is my SOLE identity!"

"Your _alter ego_ ID." Jasmine giggled.

"WRONG!"

"While Jasmine teases the guy… Let's go "convince" one of those roughnecks to spit something out." Justin told George.

"Sure."

They walked out of the store and snuck into a side-alley where there was a rough-looking guy smoking a cigarette and impatiently waiting for someone or something: Twilight suddenly walked up to the man and gave him a RWCD plastic case along with two bundles of bank notes: he then stuffed his hands on the pockets and walked out while chuckling under his breath.

"Chance!"

"Don't move!"

"YIKES!"

"Hand over that CD: keep the money."

"Run."

"Ua~h!"

The guy ran away after surrendering the RWCD and both rushed back to the store where Jasmine was showing Saloma and Commander Beef a collage of images which featured similar traits between Masa and Commander Beef as well as the crude mask Miyuki had had to wear back when the N1 Grand Prix.

"…height, weight, length of strides, profile…" She was listing.

"By all the…"

"Admit it already: if everyone knows Clark Kent is Super Man then why don't you admit being Commander Beef?"

"Hah! But that's because in-universe only a few know! No! Masa is my half-brother but I'm unrelated! Now go eat _calcium_! Boys and girls! Hah!"

11:30 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So… We're pending to find out how many people operate the business, then, apart from Twilight."

"Yeah. It's time to hunt out the bosses. And the CD only had MP3 tracks by the Japanese rock band B'z, anyway. A joke he pulled on us."

Omega and Vadous were talking inside of the HQ's command bridge.

"Huff. As long as we can push them back, we can leave it up to them…"

"By the way… Do we have any news regarding our ever-so-mysterious meteor at all?" Omega asked.

"NASA is building a facility there. The construction is progressing rather smoothly and the equipment is being calibrated to start taking provisional readings before the whole facility is complete. They believe that these Time-Space distortions which they discovered can have another meaning altogether." Vadous explained.

"Let's hope nothing ugly happens in the in-between."

"I hope the same thing, too."

"I'll be going to sharpen my skills a bit. See you later, Boss."

"Don't overdo it." Vadous reminded him.

"I won't. And don't try to neglect sleep either, Boss."

"Yeah. That wouldn't be good for my health. I hope that Hell can cook some decent curry rice."

"I'll speak it with Lartes: maybe we'll find a way to snap him outta his "kilometric speech" somehow." Omega suggested.

"Yeah. Go ahead. I won't deny Confucius was a wise man, but one gets tired of hearing all of his teachings all year long."

"His teachings…? More like parodies of Choina philosophers. Jeez."

"Gotta agree with you on that… Dragon Hell… Come back to Earth!"


	8. Chapter 8: Friendship

**Chapter 8: Friendship**

16:23 PM (Japan Time), Friday December the 19th…

"… Man! That exam took forever to answer!"

"It sure did."

"And we're just at the first trimester of _third_ year. I can't imagine how things are gonna turn like the next trimesters neither next year."

The usual group of three exited the middle school building and stretched while breathing some fresh air: they carried their sports bags today.

"… Bert Saxby must be cracking it up on us for filling up his abode." Isaac commented with obvious sarcasm.

"… Middle school mustn't be easier in Chicago, right, Nelaus?" Netto asked Nelaus.

"Huh? Oh! It was quite demanding…" Nelaus affirmed.

"What's up with Chicago today?" A familiar feminine voice asked behind them.

Everyone turned around to see Aura catching up to them.

"Oh. Aura – chan. Nothing. We were guessing that middle school in Chicago must be hard and Nelaus confirmed it." Saito replied.

"Say… Nelaus – kun…"

"What's up?" Nelaus asked.

"Are you free tomorrow?" She asked.

"Guess so…"

"Would you mind going out in a _date_ with me?" She asked him with a big grin.

"I don't mind." Nelaus calmly replied while looking unimpressed.

"Then we meet tomorrow at ten o'clock in front of Akihara Tower! Bye~!"

"I'll be waiting, Isaac – kun!" Felicia added.

Aura rushed away in the direction of the Metro Line

"_Lucky_~!" Netto grinned at Nelaus.

"You got Aura – chan for you, eh?" Saito teased.

"I don't see what's so "_lucky_" about it. She just wants to get along with me better."

Both Netto and Saito frowned and looked at each other.

"… Whaddya think about it, Isaac?" Blood Shadow asked him.

"It's good to make new friends." Isaac shrugged.

"Mwah, hah, hah! By the way! I just kicked Bert Saxby outta the district and back to his abode!" Sigma joked.

The group resumed walking and split when they reached the Hikari house: both stepped inside and Saito switched off the alarm.

"Home, sweet home."

"Yeah. Let's go up."

They changed their sneakers for the slippers and headed upstairs into their bedroom: Netto lazily sat on the bed to then face the ceiling while Saito picked a chair.

"… Something feels out of place with Nelaus. Normally… Anyone going out on a date would feel excited or nervous. But what Nelaus replied was totally out of context. He seems to think dates are no more than occasions to get along better with people. They are more than that and anyone knows that." Netto argued with Saito while looking concerned.

"Hmmm… Maybe…" Saito brought a hand to his chin.

"What?"

"… I have a wildcat theory, but I'd like to confirm it with someone… Maybe Dr. Lartes would do next time we go there."

"Do as ya like."

Saito's Link PET beeped.

"Hey, Saito – kun. Blues is here." Blood Shadow announced.

Saito picked his Link PET and Blues projected from within it.

"Good afternoon, Saito."

"Good afternoon, Blues. Has something surfaced?" Saito asked.

"… It concerns Enzan - sama." Blues admitted.

"He's under too much stress, you mean to say?"

"That's true… But…"

"What? Does he want to take it out on someone?"

"No. It's not like that… See… The other day Enzan – sama was rather tired and he didn't realize what he was typing into the computer, so he ended up into a… rather inappropriate website." Blues explained.

"What… A murderer's forum, you mean to say?"

"No. It was nothing _that_ brutal, but… He stumbled upon some online graphic stories and he suddenly made some secret transactions to acquire certain materiel…" Blues seemed rather nervous now.

"Hmmm… What… He got a flamethrower to burn the next FOD Navi he faces?" Saito rolled his eyes.

"No. It has nothing to do with weaponry… Thing is… he was planning on inviting you two over to his apartment tomorrow evening, but he has "plans" regarding Netto." Blues kept on looking uneasy.

"If he wants sex then I don't care."

"However, Enzan - sama thinks he can… Add some "spice" to it from what it'd seem." Blues warned.

"Add spice to it? As in…?" Netto frowned but seemed to be catching up somehow.

"Oi, Sigma… I think that the way this conversation is going like it's gonna end as something intimate, so let's leave them and control the entrances…" Blood Shadow whispered to him all of a sudden.

"If ya say so…" Sigma shrugged.

"Netto. Does the word S&M scare you?" Blues asked.

"Not really."

"But it's not like you'd like for him to suddenly jump into you, unclothe you and tie you up, right?" Blues argued.

"Ah! Then you're right. I wouldn't like that. I might think it's a fake Enzan set up by Twilight and I'd fight back. And if it was the real Enzan a fight would begin and trouble would ensue." Netto pictured.

"I know I'm to blame… I was overseeing security by his orders… Next time I'll leave it to the security Navis… I know now Enzan – sama can't be left alone and unchecked for at late hours of the night… I tried to convince him to cancel it but he's gotten obsessed over the idea…"

"Guess it can't be helped… Why don't we go and tell him that we know what he's up to regarding tomorrow evening? Maybe this way he'll discard it." Saito suggested to Blues.

"Yeah. Let's do as you say, Saito - niisan. Enzan is gonna learn one or two things."

"But we must take it with patience, Netto. We know Enzan has been holding back for various years. Let's simply talk it and we'll surely find a peaceful solution to it. He doesn't have violent or evil intentions: he must think it's cool."

"You've got a point there." Netto admitted.

"Let's hope so…" Blues grimly muttered.

"We'll think it over how to deal with this. You should be going back, shouldn't you, Blues?" Saito told him.

"Yeah. See you around. And let's talk it with him."

09:49 AM (Japan Time), Saturday December the 19th…

"… So this is Akihara Tower, the shopping center…"

"Can't say it ain't cool…"

Nelaus, sporting a grayish raincoat, a grayish hat with a brown stripe, one black wool jumper and jeans walked into the square in front of Akihara Tower: he looked at its height and frowned.

_Oh. I remember. Omega told us Dr. Regal's "Regal Tower" is built in the underground close by even though it's unfinished. After Dr. Regal was arrested roughly four years ago the construction ceased. Luckily enough, he's now on the "good guys" side… To think he planned a show of 3D images to make everyone believe the tower had collapsed and then make this "Regal Tower" appear… He was too dramatic._

"Hi~! Nelaus – ku~n!"

Nelaus turned around and recognized Aura.

She was sporting a knee-long black skirt, a red and blue jumped with a hood, and black leather boots.

She carried a white handbag and she had let her usually neatly combed hair loose.

"What do you think of it?" Aura asked with a broad smile.

"… Fancy." Nelaus automatically replied without thinking about it as if driven by a hidden impulse.

"Oi. That's not something you can tell a girl… I'm not like one of those models in the ads, you know." Aura complained.

"Nelaus – kun doesn't seem to know how to act around girls. Eh, Isaac – kun?" Felicia teased him.

"… Guess so… Back at Chicago, it was an all-boys'-school, so he didn't have much opportunities to interact with… He found it weird when he came to Akihara Middle School but he got over that. He's never been the type to go out into date… It's our first, anyway." Isaac admitted.

"Oh! So that's why. I'm sure he'll soon learn." Felicia smiled and grabbed Isaac's right hand.

"Oi. What are you doing, Felicia – chan?" Isaac frowned.

"Don't be a dummy." Felicia grinned.

"I'm not a dummy. Nobody's controlling me."

"I didn't mean "dummy" in the literal sense… Don't be so dense." Felicia told him.

"Everyone says Hikari Jr. used to be the dense guy of the class but he got over it." Isaac replied without thinking about it.

"Let's enjoy this date~!" Felicia teased him again.

"Guess so." Isaac automatically replied.

"Jeez. There you go again… You seem to blank out and reply without thinking… Are you overwhelmed or what?"

"Dunno."

"You're the hard type, eh? You'll soon lose that stubborn side of yours."

"Where do you want to go firstly, Aura – chan?"

"Let's go the ZARA shop on the fourth floor! They have good discounts!"

"Sure."

They both walked into the busy lobby and picked an elevator: they stepped out in the fourth floor and entered the ZARA store, which was full of people.

"I'll go to the ladies' section… Please wait for me~!"

Aura ran off, giggling and Nelaus frowned.

_Wait. Don't tell me I'm gonna have to pay what she buys… No. That only happens when you go to have a drink or a snack…_

"Why. It's Nelaus… What brings you here?" A familiar voice asked.

Nelaus looked at his left and spotted Yuriko.

"Ah… Ms. Oozono… I didn't know you fancied this stuff." Nelaus smiled.

"Drop the "Ms.", please, and just call me Yuriko." Yuriko requested.

"I'm waiting for a friend." Nelaus merely announced.

"You're in a date, huh? Lucky you. I cannot picture myself in one. I'm too much of a loner."

Nelaus frowned and seemed to have realized something.

"Are you O.K.? You look like you're spacing out." Yuriko told him.

"Huh? Ah… It's nothing. Say… What do you do to keep Needle Man under control?" Nelaus asked.

"I let him go to the Internet City Coliseum and have fun there. It's the only thing which he likes…" Yuriko shrugged.

"By the way… Are you rebuilding your relationship with your sister?"

"Of course. We live together now. I confessed to her what happened to me and she understood me… I thought I was going to be labeled of being either a "freak" or a "weirdo"… And I did think of that about myself before I regained my memories…" Yuriko told him in a hushed tone.

Again, Nelaus seemed to frown and space out upon hearing a certain word.

"There you go again… Are you really O.K.? You don't have fever or anything like that?"

"I'm O.K… I just tend to trail off… I've been doing too much mental effort in those brutal exams…" Nelaus replied.

"Oh. Exams, you say… I haven't done any of those in almost two decades, but I can recall that I had a bit of complications for some in the elementary school… They tended to be stricter back then…" Yuriko giggled and looked slightly amused.

"Yeah. I can imagine it."

"Hiya~! Sorry for the waiting!"

Aura caught up to Nelaus and carried two bags.

"Don't worry, I paid them… Ah! Who is this lady?" Aura asked after she spotted Yuriko.

"Ah… She is Ms. Oozono Yuriko… Her elder sister Ms. Mariko used to be Hikari and Saito's elementary teacher during fifth and sixth grades…"

"Are you teacher, too, ma'am?"

"Eh… No, I am not… I work in the Net Police as a finances checker…"

"Ah! The Net Police, eh? It must be cool." Aura smiled.

"Oh. But those are the Net Saviors… I only work as a bureaucrat… It's rather dull." Yuriko smiled.

"It was nice to meet you, ma'am. If you will excuse us, Nelaus – kun and I have more things to do…" Aura smiled.

"But of course… Have a good day." Yuriko told them,

"Shah, shah, shah! Day a Sunday!"

"Jeez." Isaac didn't find it funny.

"Tee, heh, heh."

"Do you want to go see something special, Nelaus – kun?"

"Huh… Let's go to the top floor… There's a good view from there, or so they've told me." Nelaus suggested.

"Okay~!"

"When did she get that kind of speaking, anyway? It's fashionable or what?" Isaac asked Felicia with a hint of intrigue.

"It's – a – secret!" Felicia replied.

The two of them reached the top floor and observed the landscape: a broad view could be seen from there.

_If Nebula hadn't been dismantled almost four years ago, then this place could've been leveled even… I dunno if we could've really blown up a thing as huge as "Regal Tower"… Or would it have some weakness to it?_

"What are you thinking about, Nelaus – kun?" Aura asked him.

"… Sorry. It's classified stuff."

"… Oh. I get it… You must be a Net Savior, eh?" Aura told him in a whisper and having a grin on her face.

"H-how do you…?" Nelaus asked: he was surprised.

"Heh, heh! The other day I saw Netto – kun in that strange Navi outfit along with Blood Shadow facing a Navi who was in the real world… There also was a gigantic octopus there… As far as I know, the only ones authorized to use that weird Navi outfit are the Net Saviors… And I deduced that you and Isaac had to be Net Saviors, too… I've heard rumors about it on the school…" Aura told him in a hushed tone.

"Wow. You could be a detective in the CSI: Las Vegas, even, if you guessed so much." Nelaus told her.

"Oh! No! I dislike that kind of things… They're too repulsive for my taste, you know!" Aura giggled.

"I was kidding." Nelaus smirked.

"You're terrible, Nelaus – kun!" Aura told him as she giggled.

"I knew it."

"Huh? Sorry?" Aura frowned.

"Ah! Eh… Nothing. I was being sarcastic…"

"Say! Why do you have that raincoat and hat?" Aura asked.

"After I saw some photos of twenties, I decided to rescue that old fashion… It looked very gallant to me and I decided to go for it." Nelaus chuckled.

"You rather look like a gangster from that age, cha know…"

"Yeah. I know… It's not the first time I've been told so."

"You must be tired of being told this so many times." Aura giggled.

"It _does_ get tiring… But I get used to it, anyway."

"Do you have any relatives?" Aura asked.

"I have an uncle who's the head of an important company. My only parents perished in a car accident eight years ago on Louisiana."

"Oh… I shouldn't have asked." Aura assumed a worried face.

"No. You mustn't feel guilty … It can happen to anyone."

"Say! How does that weird Navi outfit thing work like? It only seems to work inside of those weird domes…" Aura asked.

"To begin with… Its proper name is "Cross Fusion". The concept is simple: the Net Navi enters the real world by sharing his or her Operator's body. You may call it a fusion of Navi and human as well." Nelaus began explaining.

"Wow! Keep on, keep on!" Aura told him.

They walked down some meters and entered into a small side-tower to be more discrete.

"This is more discrete… "Cross Fusion" was invented almost four years ago. For it to work… Both Operator and Net Navi must have very high "Synchro" ratings and must be working in unison… Any bickering between the two of them or low "Synchro" levels will result in a break-out of the "Cross Fusion"…" Nelaus explained.

"Tee, heh, heh! This sounds exciting!"

"The tool to initiate it is called "Synchro Chip". They were designed by the Science Labs and are handled by them. However! For the "Synchro Chip" to take effect, one must be inside of a "Dimensional Area": formed by either "Dimensional Converters" or a "Dimensional Generator". The Dimensional Area is a mix of real world and Cyber World. Solo Navis can also materialize inside of it if they have the necessary data."

"Aha~…"

"That's what you saw on that other day when that dude came out."

"O~h… I now see. And you can do it too, right, Nelaus – kun?"

"Yeah. That's because I'm a transfer Net Savior as well. But you mustn't tell anyone, Aura – chan. We're supposed to keep our identities a secret from the public." Nelaus reminded her.

"You can count on it, Nelaus – kun!" She smiled.

"It must be cool being out there!" Felicia was telling Isaac.

"Sometimes… I'm so used to it that I don't think much about it. I'm supposed to keep an eye out for Nelaus' physical strength. There's a limit to how much damage one can take, and, if that happens, the "Cross Fusion" breaks apart." Isaac replied.

"So… It has its downsides as well?" Felicia assumed.

"_Everything_ has downsides to it. Even perfumes do have downsides to them." Isaac smirked.

"Hey! I'm a not a perfume maniac!" Felicia protested.

"Whoa! It's almost one o'clock by now! Let's go have some snacks, Nelaus – kun!" Aura smiled.

"If you say so…" Nelaus shrugged.

Both of them walked away and descended into another floor: they entered a small _café_ and had a pair of drinks and some snacks: the two of them came out of the building afterwards.

"I gotta be leavin'! See ya!" Aura waved good-bye.

"Good-bye." Nelaus dryly replied without thinking about it.

He pocketed his hands on both pockets and walked away: he seemed to be spacing out again.

"What's wrong?"

"Huff. What a weird day. I keep on spacing out. Something's wrong with me... Maybe Yuriko's right and I've been cultivating the flu."

"That can't be. Your internal intravenous nanomachines would have broken down any malicious parasite or virus." Isaac told him.

"That's true… Hmmm… I think that I need some VR to shake it off… Let's arrange with the guys to go there tomorrow."

"And we'll fire some cheap Darkloids 'long the way, too."

"Good."

"And bad."

"HUH! Ex-_senpai_: you wanna shine this season too?"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

"So? You're gonna send that "Talon" program thing for me again?"

"Nah… It'd be repetitive and boring. Maybe Dark Miyabi will get visited."

Nelaus whipped around all of a sudden and readied his fists as Twilight (with the coat and hat on) showed up behind him while stuffing both hands into the raincoats' pockets.

"So, Trainer. You intend to deny me, Akagi of Galatic Gang?"

"Hah, hah, hah. You've been playing _Pocket Monsters Platinum_ for too long, ex-_senpai_." Nelaus drily replied.

"Go hack that Talon thing into World of Warcraft." Isaac challenged.

"Yeah… 'Long with the Unmanned Gear RAY…"

"_Mujinki_ RAY? But it's intended to be like that, you know it very well."

"One day its plasma cannon will burn you away!"

"Plasma cannon! Like in the Buccaneer Man day…? What do you gain from all that, anyway?"

"Who knows? Maybe Bert Saxby would know, Nelaus."

"So you bothered to call me by name."

"Hmpf. You're a comrade, after all. A Demon Tribe member… 'Long with Vader, me, Kanou Saizou…"

"Vadous. Mr. Vadous' the name. And the 3rd guy was Kanou _Shade_ not _Saizou_. Mr. Shadow Schemer." Nelaus simply shot back.

"Heh, heh, heh… Prophet Jeremy wants his stick back!"

"Then grant him a stick like those guys in the "_Illustrious Client_" tale included in "_The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes_" had."

"Heh, heh, heh. Why not! I'll go summon Professor Moriarty and buy some opium from Mr. John Doe. Bruce Wayne will die tomorrow!"

"Don't spoil us, man." Isaac grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh. I did get to raise Twilight Tower to the light of the day and I did cover the world in a gigantic "DA"… And the only thing they could do stop me was blow up the Power Core but it took them months to demolish the whole structure, anyway."

"Go dance with Mirror Ball, anyway."

"Hmpf. Guess so. He must need company. The lighthouse will be our stage and we'll revamp into it Disco Volcano V6.66!"

"How original."

"Heh, heh, heh… Well. I guess the _SS Symphony_ is waiting for the drama about to unfold there so… "Having accepted the life granted by the Sea God Poseidon… My shadow shall be revived." …"

Twilight chuckled under his breath and walked away while Nelaus sighed in relief and rushed away from that area.

"Man. The guy's turning into a stalker." Nelaus complained.

"He won't be so moody when we beat those FOD guys." Isaac managed to sneer.

"Hmpf. Yeah. But I wonder… What's the guy gaining from that?"

11:37 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh! Tonight will be night to remember."

Enzan was cleansing his apartment and looked in very high spirits: Blues was projecting with the hologram and seemed to be watching his every move.

"Enzan – sama. Could it be possible to discard your "strategy"?" Blues politely asked.

"Nope!" Enzan grinned.

"Enzan – sama. Please do be reasonable." Blues insisted.

"Ever since when haven't I been reasonable?"

"Ever since you said you wanted to blow Forte's Gospel Shuryou robot body's head with a shotgun almost four years ago." Blues shot back.

Enzan stopped and looked rather taken aback.

"Even if it was a robot that level of violence was largely out of acceptable parameters for a Net Savior such as Enzan - sama."

"… I was angry, you know!"

"I am afraid that the use of loopholes isn't going to help Enzan - sama avoid Netto and Saito's reactions once they find out about your "strategy". I won't be an accomplice to an attempt to use violence on them to bend them to your selfishness, sir." Blues stated next.

"Oh! You're too rigid when it comes to what I'm supposed to do and what not! I'll need to fix that one of these days. That must be a leftover of the old man's manipulation of your code."

"… Enzan – sama. You are impossible." Blues sighed in defeat.

"I knew it." Enzan kept on grinning.

"… Well then… I stand on my ground. I am not going to help you in case you get into trouble because of your so-called "bright" ideas, Enzan – sama." Blues warned.

01:49 AM (Iceland Time)…

"… What? Are you sure of it, Killmore?"

"I am sure of it, Dr. Spimer."

Dr. Spimer was conducting a phone conversation with someone: he was, as usual, sitting on the armchair place inside of his office.

"The preliminary readings of the on-site devices prove the existence of some kind of "time-space tunnel"…?" Dr. Spimer was asking the caller.

"We've decided to name it "Past Tunnel". It only seems to extend for a period of 30 years, though, and it's only accessible for data and Net Navis… When the facility is complete it should be possible to force open this "Past Tunnel" and send Navis to explore across it." The man named Killmore replied.

"I assume this is being kept under wraps?" Dr. Spimer asked.

"Yeah. The bosses back at Houston decided so."

"Good. As soon as you can discern anything more, please contact me. I have a suspicion of who caused this "Past Tunnel" and why, but I need solid evidence." Dr. Spimer requested.

"That's what we'd like to know, too Doc. I'll ring you up if something were to pop out."

"Please do so."

"Good-bye."

"_Au revoir_."

Dr. Spimer pocketed his cell phone and brought a hand to his chin.

"A 'Past Tunnel' spanning 30 years… 30 years ago… 1978… The Internet was still a military project… The World Wide Web was far from being a project… We must find out if it's Duo who has come to judge us and he's trying to stop the Network from existing… I must tell _Messier_ Vadous. He'll open that "Past Tunnel" … And we'll crack the enigma at last!"

19:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Welcome~, you two~."

"Hullo."

Netto and Saito had come to Enzan's apartment: Enzan was smiling and looked rather eager: Netto and Saito both looked unimpressed.

"Let's get this straight, Enzan. You're trying to use violence on me?

"Huh? What?" Enzan looked confused.

"Don't "what". We know what you're up to." Netto pointed an accusing finger at him.

"How could you…?" Enzan looked baffled.

"A passing birdie told us." Saito dully commented.

Enzan suddenly glanced at his Link PET and at Blues' hologram.

"Blues! You gave it away!" He exclaimed.

"I had to." Blues dully replied.

"But this was…!" Enzan began.

"It was a "surprise", according to you, Enzan - sama. But I knew better and warned them." Blues cut him.

"Didn't you think of the consequences there could be?"

"Blues is way more honest than you are." Saito added.

"What consequences?"

"Such as that I'd fight back, you'd fight back and paranoia would lead to us to think one of us is fake?" Netto argued.

"Well… When you put it like that…"

"When someone tries to apprehend me I act in self-defense."

"Ops. I forgot about that…"

"So why didn't you directly call me and ask: "you don't mind me gearing you and tying you to the bed to have sex?" and I'd replied "that's alright for me"…?" Netto exposed.

"But I thought…"

"Please. After that "endurance" thing we've grown to be indifferent to that as long as it's someone friendly." Saito insisted.

"So…" Enzan trailed off.

"So I agree to that. Let's get this over with."

Netto grabbed Enzan's right sleeve and tugged it thus dragging Enzan towards the bedroom.

"O-oi! Netto! I can walk on my own!"

The door was shut closed while Saito shrugged and lied down in the sofa, stretching.

"There's no need to transfer out of your body. I have a prototype materialization program." Blues told him.

"Oho! Things will get interesting, then."

Blues materialized next to sofa and crouched next to Saito.

"You must've been waiting too long, even."

"I have patience." Blues replied.

"Do we do it here or elsewhere?"

"I'd thought of the shower."

"I love it. Let's go." Saito stood up.

"I lead the way."

"OK, _Buruusu_. D'Artagnan Jr."

"Well… Why not…"

"Heh, heh, heh."

19:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… With this, the setup is done… Whaddya think?"

"Heh. It looks cool."

Netto had geared up in the same leather bands set Philip had had the other day including the collar and black bracelets on his wrists and ankles: he didn't have any add-ons, though.

"You really think so?" Enzan asked while standing beside him.

"Let's get this show on, Enzan." Netto told him as he passed his wrists over his head and placed his arms behind Enzan's back.

"O.K."

Both lied on Enzan's bed and Enzan connected the bracelets with a short chain to keep them parallel to each other and he linked that with a belt attached to the top railings of the bed, therefore immobilizing Netto on the bed: he looked calm, nevertheless.

"Go for the spot."

Enzan grinned and spread Netto's legs open: he slowly massaged the outer area of his entrance before he inserted one finger: Netto tensed a bit but soon relaxed.

"Go on."

Enzan put the other two fingers and massaged around the insides, widening them: he removed the fingers and started to put his cock inside.

"Is this O.K. for you?" Enzan asked.

"Yeah. Don't hesitate."

Enzan put both hands on the sides of Netto's torso to better hold himself: he began to thrust in and out while increasing the rate: Netto kept his eyes closed and was enjoying the sensation: Enzan kept on increasing the pace and he felt how he was about to hit his limit.

"Netto…!"

He soon released a lot of his substance inside of Netto and panted: his vision was blurry and he could barely feel how the liquid was sliding down his own cock.

"Heh… It feels warm… Come on, Enzan… Keep the party up or else I'm gonna tickle ya." Netto encouraged him.

Enzan began to massage Netto's sack and his shaft before he approached his lips to it and took it inside of his mouth.

"Yeah! Suck it off!"

Netto began to moan as Enzan passed his tongue all around it: he could feel how he was about to release.

"Enzan!"

Netto let out his substance in several spouts: he then panted while Enzan removed his mouth from the spot and looked at Netto's open mouth.

"Come…!"

He immediately connected with him and they shared the unique flavor: they broke apart soon enough, panting for breath.

"Heh… I have some taste, eh, Enzan?"

"You sure do…"

"Ride on me." Netto told him.

"Huh…? Oh. I get it."

Enzan licked Netto's cock until it got hard again: he expanded his own insides and slowly sat down on Netto's cock to make it go inside of him: he opened his eyes wide.

"O~h! This feeling… It's great!"

"Try playing with your thing at the same time." Netto suggested.

Enzan followed the advice and rubbed his own cock as he moved up and down using his hips.

"Yeah! More! I want more!"

He soon release: he stained Netto's face and torso with his white stuff while he felt how his insides tightened and Netto's cock let out a large amount of the substance which then slid down Netto's cock, lubricating it.

"It was… great…" Enzan muttered.

Enzan removed himself from the "riding" position and licked all around Netto's torso and face.

"Let's try the six-nine." Netto suggested.

Enzan positioned himself so that he was facing Netto's cock while Netto was about to take Enzan's cock into his mouth.

"Go!"

Both began to lick each other's cock and move a bit: they soon released and filled each other's mouth with their substances.

"Hah… hah… Let's… finish this…" Enzan suggested between pants.

"I'd say… the same thing…"

Enzan hugged Netto and began a passionate kiss with him as they rubbed their cocks against each other: they soon attained release and stained their faces and torsos.

"Whoa!"

Both soon broke apart, gasping for breath, and Enzan licked Netto's nipples before separating from him so as to tease him.

"Can't say… It wasn't exciting…"

"I… learnt the lesson… next time… I'll ask you… firstly…"

"Meh… Don't mind it… Lesson learnt…"

"Huff, huff… Anyway… We've now met the whole of the "Heptagon Scheme" guys save for those 2 humans involved apart from Twilight."

"Sure. Let them come again: we'll blow them up! Heh, heh, heh."

20:20 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hello?"

Nelaus was looking up something via the PC and looked rather uninterested or bored: his Link PET rang so he replied to the call.

"_Buenas serpientes! Llamo del nido de las serpientes! Le interesaría adoptar una serpiente?"_ A heavy accented Mexican voice replied in a rush and sounding exciting.

"What? "Good snakes", you say? You're calling from the "snakes' nest", you say? You wanna know if I'm interested in adopting a snake? Sorry. But I'm not interested… Why don't you let one loose inside of the Capitol instead?" Nelaus switched to English.

"What an intelligent idea, my excellent sir! Brace yourselves, gentlemen! There's gonna be havoc! And the author of it is the Highly Excellent Vincent "Red"! BWAH, HAH, HAH!" The other voice also switched to accented English and laughed.

Nelaus raised an eyebrow.

"Vincent's still out there, huh… I don't think he's gonna try anything funny anytime soon, though… "Commendable, yet futile"… Vincent. You're cornered." Nelaus chuckled.

"Yeah! Vincent is more outdated than a vintage CD!"

"Hmmm… Next time I'll tell him to let it loose on Felipe Calderón's official residence: he'll love it." Nelaus put up a smug smile.

"And then he'll be ascended to President of Mexico thanks to the support of the Communist Party!" Isaac laughed.

"Jeez. The guy still lives in the 70s." Nelaus rolled his eyes.

"At least he doesn't live in the Middle Ages."

"Good one."

"Thanks! Let's go nap: some new battles expect us! Heh, heh, heh!"


	9. Chapter 9: Bitter realization

**Chapter 9: Bitter realization**

10:22 AM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 20th …

"… Good morning!"

"Oh. Welcome. What can I help you with?"

"Actually… It's about me."

"Do have a seat."

Netto, Saito and Nelaus stepped into the Electronics Lab to be greeted by Dr. Lartes: Nelaus sighed and Dr. Lartes signaled a group of foldable plastic chairs: they sat down.

"Lately… I seem to be acting out of a sudden subconscious impulse and I tend to space out from time to time as if reacting to some words… I thought I had the flu, but Isaac reminded me that my internal nanomachines would prevent me from that… I've been wondering if something else might be wrong with me and I thought you were the only one who could look into it." Nelaus explained.

"Hmmm… I feared as much." Dr. Lartes looked serious.

"Huh? Excuse me?" Nelaus frowned.

"Back when you decided to break ties with Maria and Twilight and become a free person… I took a sample of your DNA and genome just in case. I looked at it and found out several bitter facts. I didn't tell you anything back then because I didn't want to fret you."

"Then… Is something wrong with my DNA and genome, you mean to say, Dr. Lartes?" Nelaus assumed.

"It's not exactly "wrong" per se… It's just that some parts of it have been altered to suit Maria's ambitions…" Dr. Lartes replied.

"Could you explain me more, please?"

"It's a rather sad thing, but it's the reality… Some of your chromosomes were intentionally mutated."

"Uh-oh."

"Well. In short: your "puberty" was cancelled, you're impotent and sterile." Dr. Lartes closed his eyes and listed these facts.

"I suspected so." Saito admitted.

"Whoa! You did?" Netto looked surprised.

"The moment Aura – chan invited him to a date and he gave us such a weird reply… I knew something was wrong with him. That's not the way you reply if you're so lucky."

"There's also something else… Maria had programmed several things in your subconscious with the help of that chip implant… And it must've been triggered recently. That's why you have been spacing out."

"Then…? Could it be…? When I met up with Aura – chan yesterday, I automatically called her "fancy" when she wasn't sporting any weird clothing or anything like that. Also… I happened to cross paths with Yuriko, who told me she was glad that her sister wasn't thinking of her as either a "weirdo" or a "freak"… That's when I began to space out more often, I remember." Nelaus related.

"Correct. Maria programmed some kind of "rejection" on you to feel no interest towards any girl and try to drive them away with those programmed automatic responses… Also… You reacted to Yuriko's words because Maria wanted you to think of your own as a weird person and so try to make close upon yourself and believe you'd always be alone in the world and that you'd had to handle on your own along with Isaac as your only partner." Dr. Lartes cleared up.

"Then… Something like that was also programmed into me? I've been acting in a similar manner, too." Isaac brought up.

"Well. Back then… We requested of you to pass a scan so that we could prepare a backup… So I looked up your personality data and found the same thing on you."

"I see."

"What did she do onboard that flying "Palace"? If Oriol claimed that the kind of S&M sadism play he and Forte and Shirakami played with us without being serious was pale in comparison to the sadist there who could make a person's mind break down and turn them into addicts or leave them scarred for life… Then it must've been like a red light district illegal night club, right?" Netto assumed.

"Yeah. That sums it up pretty much."

"… Wait a min. It was a mobile prison as well, wasn't it? When Netto - kun and I went there to help Oriol with the programs inside of his electronic brain Legato and I stayed in a cell-like room and he showed me some lockers with prison clothes and ID bracelets."

"Huff. A prison it sure was… The "East Detention Block" which you visited was reserved to males. The "West Detention Block", on the other hand, was reserved for girls. East had pair numbers while West had odd numbers… Those ID bracelets included a system which electrocuted the holder if they tried to exit the cell without authorization… And the uniforms were just to reinforce the idea that everyone locked inside of that place (save for the grunts) were her prisoners to be abused of in unspeakable manners… The only difference between them was just the symbol engraved on it." Dr. Lartes explained with obvious anger.

"I suspected as much. That must've been the purpose of the whole place to begin with… Apart from being a lab orbiting in HEO…" Saito nodded with a look of anger on his face.

"A least Vadous – san blew it up roughly a year and a half ago after we'd all exited it… To erase that ghost of the past…"

"I remember that I was supposed to fly directly there once I awoke from cold sleep, but that the plan was changed just two days before to go to Deadly Pandora HQ instead. However… I'm sure my plane couldn't go beyond the atmosphere." Nelaus brought up.

"No. But the "Palace" was design to land down on the surface as well. That's how Kuroshiro found it. They simply would have landed, waited for you to come, and then take off towards HEO again." Dr. Lartes cleared up.

"Say… They told me that what they did was some kind of "business" although they admitted the kidnappings some days after I got there… They justified them saying their victims were part of genetic research which could overcome AIDS and cancer… It was all a bunch of lies, wasn't it?"

"… "Business"? I've never heard a bigger lie on my life! It's true that they conducted genetic research… Everyone onboard of the "Palace" was sterilized via a small genome modification, but all those victims were not there for that sake! You two guessed it: it was just a mobile illegal club in which people were abused of day and night until they broke down!" Dr. Lartes had actually stood up and began to pace around the chair.

"What a sick woman." Isaac made a grimace.

"Sick she sure was. And Marco was no more than a puppet. He was that kind of person who didn't care for the morale of anything and was just content with being given orders to follow. Although the grunts used to image them having a relationship, it was just master and servant. Marco merely appeared in public and relayed orders while Maria was the "ice queen" pulling the string behind the scenes… Hence Twilight's "IQ – sama" title…" Dr. Lartes had sat down and kept on looking in a bad mood.

"So… Upon realizing the monster she really was, Vadous – san and the others including Kanou Shade decided to _dethrone_ her?" Netto assumed.

"Yeah. We began to plot it more or less after the fall of Gospel, roughly four years ago. By the time of your first encounter with Desert Man and when Enzan – kun managed to perform Cross Fusion on March, 2005, we'd already brought her down and had her sentenced for her crimes. In the midst of the re-organizing alliances, budget, assets and materiel, the _Crisis_ popped out… We were monitoring it but we were as leadless as the Net Police was. And you know Omega was close to catching Forte but in the end he slipped away by mere inches."

"Hmmm. At least that woman won't get out of jail anymore."

"… Sorry for my outbursts… It wasn't nice recalling all of that."

"Obviously…" Netto sighed.

"… Hum… Eh… Dr. Lartes… Would it be possible to fix those alterations to my DNA and genome?" Nelaus slowly asked.

"Of course it'd be possible. We have all the equipment here. We can do it immediately if you want to." Dr. Lartes replied.

"Really?" Nelaus sounded quite surprised.

"I'm serious. It'd be a walk into the park. However… You must take into account that those "repairs" might take a while to take effect. It's up to the body itself to set the pace." Dr. Lartes told him.

"Then, I'd like for everything to be fixed… Expect for my sterilization. I would rather prefer to remain sterile for the time being… As a safety measure…" Nelaus slowly replied.

"We're gonna go and play a VR mission with Trill. It's been a while since last time." Netto announced.

"Good luck, Nelaus and Isaac." Saito told them.

"Uh… Thanks."

"Don't worry: this isn't like surgery. It's a less intrusive method. If you'd follow me… We're going to the genetics lab close by." Dr. Lartes reassured Nelaus.

Nelaus nodded and followed Dr. Lartes out of the electronic labs and towards the left while the twins walked towards the right: they soon found a room labeled "GUEST ROOM #7" so Netto knocked on it.

"Come in!" A girl's voice replied.

They entered into the room, which contained a large sofa set against the left wall, a small wooden rectangular table in front of it and an LCD TV which hung from the right wall.

Two doors were set on the north: one was closed while the other revealed a bedroom with two beds.

Iris was sitting in the sofa and had been reading a magazine but she closed it and stood up to greet them.

"Good morning, Iris!" Both greeted.

"Oh. Hikari – kun and Saito – kun… Welcome. It's been a while." Iris welcomed.

"Is Trill around here?" Saito asked.

"Oh. He went to the dining hall to speak with Dragon – san again… He never tires of his Choina tales and his Confucius lessons." Iris made a slightly uneasy smile.

"Wow. Trill sure must have a lot of patience to bear with Dragon – san's kilometric speech." Netto let out a whistle of surprise.

"Yippe~!" A child-like voice could be heard coming close.

The door opened and Trill ran inside.

"Hullo, Trill!" Both twins greeted.

"Oh! Netto and Saito came to see Trill! Trill is very happy!" Trill smiled and looked eager.

"Heh, heh! Say… Wanna come and play "dodge Mister security guard" with us?" Netto invited.

"Yippe~! Let's play, let's play!" Trill jumped up and down.

"We'll be borrowing him for a while if you don't mind, Iris." Saito announced.

"I don't mind. Please go ahead." Iris smiled.

"We'll back in a while!"

Both Netto and Saito departed the guest room along with Trill and entered one of the VR Rooms: Saito sat down on a chair and transferred his consciousness into Netto's Link PET.

"Okay! Dimensional Area: Power On!"

The usual "Dimensional Area" filled the whole of the room.

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

The usual blue bubble of energy formed and "CF" Netto emerged from it.

"Are you ready, Trill?" "CF" Netto asked him.

"Trill is always ready!"

Both of them went through the cybernetic "portal" and emerged into a bare-concrete-built corridor: "CF" Netto activated the mouth guard and peered into the corridor.

"It's time for some _solid_ scouting."

"Jeez. It's a pun on that Solid Snake guy."

"Tee, heh, heh!" Trill giggled.

He could see four or five commando men with AN – 94s and grenades chatting amongst them.

"Hmmm… Trill. Let's go for the "literature" strategy." "CF" Netto crouched and told him in a hushed tone.

Trill blinked him an eye and produced a gaming magazine: "CF" Netto picked it and made one or two edits to it before throwing it towards the guards, shrugging.

"Huh? Where did this come from?" One wondered.

"Military Post Service!" "CF" Netto put up a dry and dull voice.

"Ah! Okay!" Another could be heard saying.

"CF" Netto began to make footsteps sounds to make it look like he was walking away: he kept on leaning his back against the wall of the corridor and paid attention to the commandos' conversations: Trill did that as well.

"Hey! Look at this: "New cheat codes discovered for World of Warcraft"!"

"Seriously?" A second one sounded surprised.

"I'm into this game and I'm totally stuck 'cause I get beaten by other online players! Some cheat codes would ensure me a string of easy victories!" A third one was saying.

"The same thing is happening to me!" A fourth added.

"Hey… Who's the receiver of this thing?" A fifth asked.

"Huh… The tag is blank…" The first commando replied.

"Then hand it over! You're not into this game, even!" One of the commandos announced.

"I'm into this game, you know!" Another protested.

"I'm into it, too!" A third added.

"Everyone is: you megalomaniac!" A fourth accused.

"What did you call me?" The first one growled.

"Ugly!" A fifth one added.

"Why, you guys…!" The first one cursed.

"Hand it over!" One ordered.

"It's mine!" Another proclaimed.

"Mine!" A third proclaimed next.

"You bunch of jerks!" The first one cursed.

Soon enough, the sound of punches, kicks and fighting could be heard close by: a cloud of dust had formed around the five men, who were fighting over the magazine and letting out curses: "CF" Netto and Trill used the chance to slip by unnoticed.

_Your precious "literature" strategy sure worked off, Netto – kun… _

_I told ya it would, Saito – niisan._ Netto replied.

"T-this MORON!"

"T-this GAMER!"

"T-this GAMBLER!"

"T-this GEEK!"

"T-this JERK!"

"T-this IDIOT!"

"T-this FOOL!"

"Yay! Dragon – san's prophecy was right!"

"What prophecy?"

"… "Those who must protect the flesh and soul of the Noble Ones have a fighting nature which shall lead them to civil war… Stir them up and they shall fight over their vanity." … Yay!" Trill quoted.

"Whoa. He was right." "CF" Netto whistled in surprise.

"I smell Sigma's hands behind that myself." Rock Man muttered with a hint of suspicion.

"No wonder."

"Yay! Let's go up the stairs!"

"OK! Wait for me, Trill – chan!"

"Jeez. Netto – kun. Let's not begin another Nickname War!"

"Don't worry! It's just the Nickname Race!"

"Loopholes… Huff."

"Yay!"

"Behave already and…! Hey! I want these cheats!"

"Wha~t? Private Robson! You rascal!" The other soldiers grumbled.

"Yikes! Oh! Look! Queen Amidala!"

"WHOA! WHERE?"

"Hey! Robson's running!"

"Get 'im, get 'im!"

"Yay!"

10:44 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Sorry for the bother but the ones in the Electronic Lab are under maintenance so we had to come here… I've got a spare of the necessary equipment…"

"I don't mind, sir."

Nelaus entered the genetics lab along with Dr. Lartes.

The room had an overall cubical shape and various diagrams were attached to the walls.

There were three cylindrical capsules which were lying on the ground near the east wall colored gray and brown.

These capsules (like the ones in the Electronic Lab) had one small glass window near the north end which allowed one to monitor the insides of it.

They were all connected via wires and pipes to a kind of deposit which occupied half of the east walls.

Each of the capsules had a control panel placed in front of them.

"Wow." Both Nelaus and Isaac whistled in surprise.

The north wall contained a built-in desktop which contained several loose documents on top of it: some pencils and pens were scattered atop it along with a statuette of the Eiffel Tower.

There was a big cupboard built into the west wall and, to right of it, there was a metallic door with the "W. C." tag on it.

"That's Kir Osh's stuff… I've told him to store it on his room's drawers, but he always forgets…" Dr. Lartes grumbled upon examining the handwriting in the loose documents.

"Mr. Kir Osh is the second "disciple" of Mr. Vadous, right? I heard he was a car mechanic… Is he French, by any chance?" Nelaus inquired.

"No. He's Japanese but he was once in Paris and brought this over as a _souvenir_."

"These capsules remind me of the one I was "sleeping" in for five years, there, on Antarctica…" Nelaus commented.

"Yeah. They're based off Maria's own designs. Now…"

Dr. Lartes opened the cupboard with a key he had on his pants' right pocket and took out what looked like a diver's bodysuit colored black and with two red stripes running down the sides of it.

Instead of ending at the ankles, it covered the feet as well.

"You'll feel better if you put this on when you enter the capsule in which I'm going to make the genetic "repairs". This fluid will help your body enter hibernation and that's when it's safer to instruct the nanomachines to do the repairs." Dr. Lartes explained.

Nelaus nodded and walked into the adjacent toilet, closing the door behind him.

"OK. Let's set this up."

While Nelaus changed, Dr. Lartes opened one of the capsules and picked an oxygen mask.

He checked its integrity and the oxygen intake system to make sure it was working like it had to work like.

He also checked the pipes and intake/exit valves.

"Everything is green… Before I forget…"

Dr. Lartes checked the cupboard and picked a set of diver's goggles from a shelf.

"All's set now."

Nelaus came out of the toilet, having changed into the special suit: he left the Link PET on top of the desk before Dr. Lartes helped him climb into the capsule and make him lie on it on face-up position.

"We're going to test the oxygen intake first."

Dr. Lartes secured the oxygen mask and turned it on.

"Can you breathe normally? Do you feel normal?" Dr. Lartes checked.

Nelaus nodded in affirmation.

"Good. Here! Put these on."

Dr. Lartes handed him the diver's plastic goggles and adjusted them to make sure no liquid would come in: he checked the oxygen mask again to make sure it was working properly.

"Excellent. I'm going to seal it up. Relax and remember: this is _not_ a coffin." Dr. Lartes joked.

Nelaus let out a small chuckle as Dr. Lartes closed the lid and sealed it: Nelaus looked out through the glass hatch and saw Dr. Lartes' face looking at him.

"I'm going to start filling up now. Before you're completely submerged, you'll already be in cold sleep. Sleep well."

Nelaus closed his eyes and felt nothing as the two rectangular hatches on his sides opened and a greenish transparent fluid began to emerge: his breathing and heartbeat began to reduce and his brain activity decreased to a minimum.

"Everything reads green. I'm going to begin the repairs. You can watch but please don't touch anything, Isaac."

"Please, Doc. I'm supposed to have a mental age of sixteen. I'm mature enough to know this." Isaac smiled.

"Sorry. Having Trill peeking in from time to time has gotten me used to saying this." Dr. Lartes let out a small chuckle.

He began to type into a laptop he'd taken out of a drawer: Various screens and diagrams showing a DNA string and genome coding appeared.

"By the way, Doc… A quick question… Twilight and the other two also…?"

"I fixed Boss' flaws but I dunno if K. S. fixed his. Twilight sure didn't."

"I thought as much… Well. Continue with the job. I'll look on."

10:52 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Who goes there?"

"… There is a package for you, sir."

"Come in, then."

"CF" Netto, disguised as a lieutenant, came in.

He'd edited his mouth guard to make it look like it was a mask for the cold.

He carried a square box on his hands.

There was a desk set on the other end of it and a man with the "Lieutenant Colonel" rank was sitting on a chair behind it.

"Who has sent this?" The lieutenant colonel asked.

"The post office says the sender is named Aunt Regula."

"Aunt Regula…? Hmmm… And it's explicitly addressed to me?"

"Yes, sir: there is no doubt about it."

"… I'll check it out. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir!"

"CF" Netto deposited the package and exited the room: he closed the door, which had a camera lens built into it: he then walked towards the left and waited.

"YEA~RGH!" A loud cry of fear came out from inside the room.

CRASH!

"CF" Netto took out an ice pick and stabbed it at the camera lens: he ran past it and headed towards an empty room containing a black ragged flag with the word "GOAL" drawn into it using purple letters.

"It looks like the Mister didn't like Trill's "Devil Box" present!" Trill giggled.

"He sure didn't. He's a mean mister." "CF" Netto chuckled under his breath as well.

Both he and Trill grabbed the flagpole: some purple 3-D letters came out of nowhere and formed in the air.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Both "CF" Netto and Trill passed through the "portal" on their way out: they landed inside of the VR Room and the "Dimensional Area" powered down along with the matrix before a holographic screen popped out, displaying the results:

VR SIMULATORS SYSTEM

MODE: SNEAKING

DIFFICULTY SETTING: HARD

TIME: 05: 33

RANK: A

USERS: H. NETTO, ROCK MAN EXE & TRILL

HAVE A NICE DAY!

Netto aimed his Link PET at Saito's body to transfer him back there: Saito woke up, yawned, and stretched.

"What did you think of it, Trill?" Netto asked him.

"It was very fun! Trill had lots of fun!" Trill told them.

"That's a good thing."

"Trill will go to oneechan's room! See you around!"

"Good-bye!"

Trill ran out like an express while Netto and Saito smiled.

"Hey! Let's go check if Nelaus' operation is over."

"Yeah. Let's head over there."

They departed the VR Room and headed towards the genetics lab: they knocked on the door.

"Dr. Lartes? May we come in?" Netto requested.

"Sure! Come in!"

Both boys entered and looked around: Saito immediately looked at the set of capsules.

"I remember! This is where you revealed the "cyborg body" you had designed for me on the summer of the year 2005!" Saito commented.

"Yeah. I still remember you coming out of there like you were Frankenstein." Netto grinned.

"How is the operation going like, Doctor?"

"It's done with. I'm now making sure the nanomachines reallocate to the designed spots. Then I'm going to drain the hibernation fluid and vent out heat using normal water. I'll slowly reanimate him and bring him out of the capsule." Dr. Lartes explained.

The presents soon heard the sound of water being drained and going down a pipe: some steam came out from some small holes on the sides and was soon dispersed by the ceiling's air conditioner system.

"OK."

Dr. Lartes walked towards the capsule and unsealed it: he removed Nelaus' oxygen mask and diver's goggles before he helped him stand up and come out of the capsule: he then sat him down on a chair.

"Excuse me for a sec."

Dr. Lartes opened the cupboard and took out a hair dryer: he plugged it to a plug nearby and turned it on: he began to dry Nelaus' bodysuit and the small dips of the fluid which had remained on his body.

"Now I'm going to give him an adrenaline injection to help him regain his usual strength." Dr. Lartes announced.

He opened a case and took out a syringe missing its needle: he picked one small sealed package next and ripped it open to pick the needle: he grabbed a small sealed pot with the label "ADRENALINE" on its body.

"Good."

He filled the syringe with it until it reached half of the maximum volume: his next action was to walk towards Nelaus: he unbuttoned the part of the bodysuit spanning all the way from the elbow to the hand.

"There."

He injected the adrenaline slowly and put up a band-aid in the spot: he removed the needle and tossed it away before entering the toilet and cleansing the rest of the syringe.

"Hum… Is the operation… over…?" Nelaus began to mutter.

He yawned and stretched around while he rubbed his eyes and blinked several times.

"It's done. As I told you before, it's up to the body how you will take in these changes. Don't expect them to show up in a rush." Dr. Lartes told him.

"Good… I'm going to change back."

Nelaus walked towards the restroom and shut the door: he came out two minutes later, having dressed again with his usual clothing: he handed the bodysuit the Dr. Lartes, who stored it back on the cupboard.

"Let's go back, guys." Nelaus told them.

"We better go see if Bert Saxby left a message for us." Isaac grinned and sounded amused.

"Thank you for everything, Dr. Lartes." Nelaus politely bowed.

"There was no need for it. I was glad to be of help." Dr. Lartes smiled and sounded relieved.

"That reminds me of the "GENE" theme _MGS1_ had…" Isaac muttered.

"Maybe you'd preferred to battle Gene of the Fox Unit?" Nelaus grinned and improvised a joke.

"Jeez. That guy was scary, alright. Let's go back already."

01:14 AM (Iceland Time)…

"… So... Your friend _Messier_ Brown has told you that the money of the previous head of the FOD was transferred to a "Private Navi Research Institution" which went bankrupt three months ago, on September..."

"That's exactly it."

Dr. Spimer was conversing in French with someone via the phone while sitting on his armchair.

"Who was the head of it and where was it?" Dr. Spimer asked.

"The head was called Jacques Taufex and was located at Marseille. He vanished afterwards. It's safe to assume he's the head of the FOD… Or, rather, the scapegoat Twilight set up." The caller replied.

"Thank you for your call, _Messier_ Le Count."

"_Oui_, it was nothing_, Messier le Doctor_. _Au revoir_."

"_Au revoir_."

Dr. Spimer placed the phone back on its receiver and sighed.

"All that's left is to stop Duo before he can do something deadly. _Messier_ Vadous will take care of it." He muttered aloud.

He took out his glasses, cleansed them with the swipe towel, and put them on again before he opened a laptop set on the top of the desk and began to work with it.

"Twilight sure bothered to do something complicated… Why bother to set up a scapegoat when we already know he's the guy in charge? The Net Police know that. Who was he expecting to fool, anyway?"

"This is Colonel Morgan… We repelled Zoan Gate Man who'd tried to breach into Sector 1 of the Cyber World!" The interphone buzzed.

"Speaking of the devil… What a _forban_. Reinforce security!"

"Roger, Dr. Spimer. They won't catch us with the pants down and that's a good ol' Texan speakin'! We're going to teach them a lesson yet!"

12:33 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… I got repelled trying to break into Sector 1… I didn't manage to intercept any content this time around… The previous Killer Eyes were found and disposed of…"

"Patience. They must've found about the scapegoat."

"Why bother to place a scapegoat when everyone knows you're the one behind them, Master?"

"It wasn't MY idea. The guys who hired "G", my contact, had set up everything, including the previous boss' death, before they ran into trouble with the Navi programming and wanted me to give them a hand on it… Else it'd made sense."

Zoan Gate Man was reporting to Twilight in the Melbourne house while Philip calmly sat to his right: he looked puzzled and Twilight sighed to explain as if he was somewhat annoyed with the deal.

"Oh? Is that so, Master?"

"Yeah. "G" works in a company. This company got hired by "them". They ran into trouble: "G" spoke about me and knew how to approach me through IQ – sama. And IQ – sama got amused and ordered me to get involved so that's what I'm doing. But the scapegoat deal was already arranged for in September." He explained to Philip.

"Ah! I understand now. So the "Heptagon Scheme" began somewhere else and then Master got involved."

"Yeah. And the scapegoat guy isn't to blame for anything: that's why he's the scapegoat. Those guys didn't realize the consequences of my involvement at this stage. But it couldn't be helped. But I can't blame "G" because he was unsure if my involvement would be beneficial or not and after checking it with his Boss then he agreed on it. Jeez. If only he'd gotten the idea earlier… The guy's got brains and I don't question that: but then again he got contacted in September about the plot."

"And what does that company and "they" gain from this?"

"Heh. I can't say yet. It'd be a spoiler."

"Oh well. But when the project ends then I'll be able to know, right?"

"Of course, Darth Bapgei, my apprentice…"

"Fine."

"Is your cover intact?"

"Hah. Those morons can't start suspecting me of anything. I simply have to play the meek guy and they totally fall for it."

"Excellent… Fuel their arrogance and blind them!"

"That's what I've been doing, Master."

"If you want to go visit someone of your family to spend Christmas and New Year's with them I don't mind. I'm not ordering you to abandon your blood ties."

"Alright. Then I'll go to my uncle's ranch."

"Good. I'll provide you a contact method but only use if something urgent were to happen. I'll give you a PET and Zoan Gate Man there will provide copies of the reports. Get it, Zoan Gate Man?"

"Roger, Twilight – sama. No big deal."

"Run some maintenance on the RAY. I want it to work top-notch: maybe one day I'll use it to level the prison's outer walls and bring IQ – sama and Mr. Secretary out of that foul place… Mr. Opoulos would do fine too and we could shake the world's foundations by proving there's no safe prison anymore. Heh, heh, heh." Twilight chuckled.

"Amusing." Philip sneered too.

"And I that things will soon speed up towards the climax…"

"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…" The six subordinates chuckled.

"Heh. Heptagon Scheme is gonna be a great success: I can guess that."

"Obviously. And then… The real deal will begin. Heh, heh, heh…"


	10. Chapter 10: Close encounter

**Chapter 10: Close encounter**

16:40 PM (Japan Time), Monday December the 22nd …

"… Phew! This trimester ended today, thank goodness… Why didn't they end on Friday, anyway? They had us go just to give us the grades and the exams' results…"

"Thank goodness, really."

Netto and Saito had walked into their bedroom while looking rather tired: they both sat on their respective beds and sighed.

"Do you wanna do something special?" Netto asked Saito.

"… I don't feel with forces for it… I'm just gonna drop by Higureya and talk with Number Man to see what joke we can pull on Higure – san next… He needs them to snap outta his daydream land." Saito giggled.

"Oho! That's terrific… Go ahead." Netto also chuckled.

Saito transferred himself into Netto's Link PET and, from there, he entered their computer.

"Hiya, Saito - kun. All's ready?" Blood Shadow asked him.

"All's ready. Let's go see good ol' Number Man at his abode." Rock Man grinned.

Both of them departed the computer and walked down the busy streets of Internet City until they reached Higureya.

"Welcome! Oh! It's Rock Man and his pal Blood Shadow! Good afternoon!" Number Man greeted.

"Hello, Number Man. How are things in the "becoming a shining man" front?" Rock Man asked him.

"They're totally stuck! You know Yamitarou: he's still drooling over going into a date with Mariko – sensei! And those poses standing atop the counter are silly too." Number Man growled.

"Pyurururu~? Number Man looks angry, pyu."

Aqua Man popped his head from behind the desk and jumped on top of the counter.

"Oh! Aqua Man!" Rock Man recognized him.

"Pyurururu~! It's Rock Man and his pal, pyu!" Aqua Man smiled.

"Have you been behaving, Aqua Man?" Rock Man asked him.

"Pyurururu~! Aqua Man has been behaving, pyu!" Aqua Man danced on top of the counter.

"Oi. Be careful or you're going to fall!" Number Man warned him.

He slowly lifted him and placed him on the ground in front of the counter for safety.

"Pyurururu~! Aqua Man is going to see Ice Man, pyu! Bye-bye, pyu!"

"So… Shuuko – san is still working at Higureya?" Rock Man guessed.

"She keeps on being rather shy, but she does good work… She has a tendency to believe in omens, though."

"Who'd said it?"

"About the joke… We're gonna do something creepy." Rock Man told Number Man in a hushed tone.

"Tell me." Number Man sounded eager.

"Do you know what an "Ouija Board" is?" Rock Man asked him.

"Hmm… Isn't that used in western spiritualism to show messages given to you by spirits?" Number Man guessed.

"Yup. Then… We're going to spell him a very funny message. I won't give more details, though." Rock Man grinned.

"Sounds like Higure –san is going to run off the store from the fright."

"Oh! That's for sure."

"I get it. When do we do it?"

"Tomorrow afternoon is the moment. Be ready for it and maybe he'll snap outta it." Rock Man blinked him an eye.

"We're gonna leave before a queue forms in here… Good bye."

"See you tomorrow!" Rock Man waved good-bye.

"I'll be waiting!" Number Man added.

Suddenly, as Rock Man and Blood Shadow headed towards the door, all lights went out, leaving them inside of pitch-black obscurity.

"Not another power grid failure! I've had three this same month!"

"Huh? Who goes there?" Rock Man suddenly questioned.

"Is something wrong?"

A bright circle of white light suddenly formed at Rock Man's feet and gave way to a white energy shaft: Rock Man fell inside of it and it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"What in the…?" Blood Shadow cursed.

"Rock Man!" Number Man gasped.

The lights suddenly returned, but Rock Man was nowhere to be seen inside of the store.

"Damn! I smell the FOD being behind this! One of them admitted wanting to do something to Rock Man! Or maybe it's Twilight back to his stupid ambitions…!"

"What's going over there?" Netto asked while opening his communications screen.

"Rock Man has vanished!"

"WHAT?" Netto turned pale.

"How's that possible?" Sigma uttered.

"I wish I knew! The lights went out, a weird shaft opened, and next moment, Rock Man wasn't here!"

"What do we do?"

"Let's sweep the area. There must be some traces left."

"I should report to Commander Omega… Do we use the direct channel?"

"Use it. This situation justifies it."

He began to tap the spot Rock Man had been at: the ground seemed quite solid and vulgar.

"Sorry for this, Number Man."

Blood Shadow took out one red indented blade and drew a circle on that spot: he tried to kick the patch of ground, but it didn't come out.

"There's no secret Reverse Cyber World tunnel, it'd seem… Then… What was that tunnel? It looked reminiscent of being warped around by a "Dimensional Converter"…"

"How weird." Number Man admitted.

"Stay put. I'm going to sweep the surroundings."

Blood Shadow came out of the store and looked around: he crept into a side alley and spotted a pile of bricks which had fallen off a container and they seemed to be covering something.

"I'm gonna be nice and give you ten seconds to come out before I blast that cheap camouflage away." Blood Shadow announced.

Someone suddenly jumped out from beneath the pile of bricks: Hidden Heart.

"Blood Shadow!" She cursed.

"Where's Rock Man?"

"That's what I'd like to know, too! I heard the scandal!"

"Don't play innocent. Out of all the FOD you were the only who admitted being explicitly after Rock Man." Blood Shadow aimed his shotgun at her and sounded doubtful.

"I did say it and I was planning on acting today: but the blackout caught me by surprise!"

"None of you can open up any weird tunnels?"

"What "weird tunnels"? We just log-in and log-out! We can do that of the shield of cards to protect ourselves from being scanned but that's all that there's to it!" Hidden Heart admitted.

"Hmmm… If it wasn't you guys, then who could've done it? Today I'm going to let you go, but next time I'm gonna send you to Mt. Rigi in Switzerland." Blood muttered.

"Che! I'll be back!" Hidden Heart grumbled.

She formed the barrier of "Heart" cards and vanished from the scene while Blood Shadow spotted two Mettools having the numbers 54 and 55 looking at him.

"Metto~…"

"You guys. Where's Zoan Gate Man?"

"Did you ask for me? Do you wanna fell the embrace of my Demon Hand?"

"Save up the sarcasm: what happened?"

"I'd like to know that myself. I just got here 33 seconds ago."

Zoan Gate Man showed up behind the Mettools while folding his arms and looking calm after some initial sarcasm.

"Hmmm… Then there's another party involved…?"

"Guess so. I know I'm not believable but I was busy compiling reports from across the world. And we can't create that "tunnel" thing either."

"Hmmm… I'll leave at it for today but if I get the slightest hint that it was you guys then the 15 of us are gonna come raid you guys."

"At Stockholm? Heh, heh, heh. Fine. We'll be waiting."

"Stockholm? Nah. I know they're in Melbourne… Whatever. Let's hurry."

01:07 AM (Utah Time)…

"Unh… What the hell has happened…?"

Rock Man blinked several times and awoke: he tried to clear his blurry view and spotted what looked like countless stars shining in the night sky.

"Wha…?"

He tried to move, but was unable to.

"Huh!"

Now fully awake, he realized that there were some kind of energy rings placed on his wrists and ankles which were connected to the edges of some cylindrical glass tube via energy ropes: this cylinder seemed to be floating on the middle of outer space.

"What the heck! What is this place? It looks reminiscent of the HQ… But who's abducted me? Twilight? The FOD?"

"That would be me." A soft voice announced.

Xon' Edos descended from "above" and floated in front of Rock Man while looking calm.

"Who are ya?" Rock Man questioned.

"It would be rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Xon' Edos. I am but a mere observer: one of many." Xon' Edos introduced himself.

"Ah! Do you work for _Duo_, then?" Rock Man assumed.

"Duo? You know of him?"

"I've heard plenty about the guy."

"Well. Duo is our forerunner yet we are improvements."

"Like Slur?"

"Ah! So you have heard of Slur?"

"I've met a very well done imitation of her."

"Imitation! Someone actually managed to replicate Slur?"

"Yeah. Someone who managed to scan the whole of her data…"

"Intriguing. But be assured: I am a servant, like Slur, but my Master and Mistress' command is to investigate planets, and, if needed, _promote_ their evolution."

"Hum. I know Duo was supposed to administer your Creators' Network from the Universe but he got "God complex"…"

"Truly. Too many advanced tools: too much power… That was a mistake from our Creators' forerunners… Another colony several hundreds of light-years apart created us several millennia ago. There are 10 like me and I am the 5th to be activated and deployed in a planet."

"So? Why did you bother to bring me here?" Rock Man tried asking.

"My Master and Mistress were interested in my reports regarding your abilities. I did look up your backup data, but it was two months outdated. I had no other way around but to bring you here for analysis." Xon' Edos explained in a polite manner.

_Crap. Papa must've been engrossed in another of his projects and forgot to ask me to come over so that we could update my backup data. If only he weren't so forgetful…_

"However. It is not in our intention to seek an open conflict with you beings or inflict damage to this planet as a whole. I am merely going to analyze you. Once it is over, I shall release you." Xon' Edos calmly told him next.

Before he could protest, Kon' Edos gripped his chest emblem and it shone with a white light: Rock Man immediately entered hibernation mode and his consciousness shut down.

"Let us begin."

A white aura surrounded Rock Man's limp body as a floating spherical device with a lens appeared in front of him and began to project a thin horizontal light which ran down his body like a scanner machine.

"It has begun."

Several holographic data screens filled with schematics and glyphs appeared: Xon' Edos began to read them.

"… What? Why is there a complete DNA sequence on his body? I did not see such a thing on his backup data…" He frowned

He continued reading more data and seemed to be surprised.

"… He is really a human's consciousness, DNA and memories inhabiting inside of a Net Navi's frame! A cyborg body… He can use it to exist as a normal human again… Fascinating! Our makers never thought of such a methodology… DNA resonance… A "link" which allows him to interchange thoughts and even transplant his consciousness if the need for it came to happen… This is extremely interesting!"

Feeling excited, he read the next string of glyphs containing more information.

"A very powerful program is embedded on him… Soul Unison Omega Soul… Speed, power, skill… All of them are at the maximum. Some of his memories are locked with powerful barriers… It would be rude of me to look beyond what I am authorized to look: I shall skip them. What else is there…? Ah! Genetically engineered humans… Intriguing! Very intriguing!"

He continued on reading up the results of the analysis.

"Orbiting Earth is a gigantic spacecraft which is home to a group of individuals labeled the "Subspace"… Hmmm… This is very interesting indeed…"

The scanning machine finished and floated out of the room: Xon' Edos typed several commands in the screens and worked with them for a few minutes.

"I have "retailed" the contents of the analysis to only highlight his battle abilities such as the no-longer-active Style Change, Soul Unison and Cross Fusion… That was what they ordered me to find out, after all."

He made a shrug.

"I shall keep the rest of the information stored in the vault… Now that I think about it… I should leave him with an explanation of why I travelled to 30 years in the past…"

Xon' Edos placed his right hand on Rock Man's forehead and transferred some data into him: he stopped after a few seconds.

"This shall do fine."

He then snapped his fingers and the restrains disengaged, leaving Rock Man floating inert as if he was in a zero-gravity environment.

"I shall send him back to the spot I "abducted" him from… I do believe we shall meet again, Rock Man - dono… No. Maybe it should be more elegant to refer as you by your real name… Hikari Saito - dono."

Making a smirk, he snapped his fingers again and the same tunnel of white light opened, sucking Rock Man in and closing: Xon' Edos floated away while looking amused, for once.

"Talk about an intriguing day. So? What is the status in the "present"?"

He opened a holographic screen which displayed how the construction was advancing.

"They are being fast. Maybe this is a project which had already been designed for and they were pending finding out when it would be fitting to build it or when… Let them analyze… And those memories of Rock Man – dono regarding those "Past Visions" which displayed other Time-Spaces are fascinating too… The most recent showed an Earthling Net Navi facing off against Slur… And ending up in his victory and her deletion… That must be why someone in this planet recreated her… As a very well done imitation which believes they are a successor to the original Slur and who has overcome Mark One's defects and flaws… My Master and Mistress shall be fascinated by this report… And to think Duo left behind two human "Probes"… He was too arrogant: our biggest mistake ever! It almost brought upon our extinction!"

_Setting that asides… Maybe we shall meet again, young brave warrior… Heh, heh, heh, heh…_

17:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… What's going on? Who's the culprit? Huh! Huff!"

"Cool it, Hikari…"

"That's easy to say, Sigma!"

Netto was pacing nervously around his bedroom and eating his fingernails: his Link PET rang, and gasping, he reached for it.

"Number Man? Do you have any news?" Netto asked him upon seeing him on-screen.

"Rock Man's back!" Number Man announced.

"What? Where is he?" Netto asked.

"Here: in Higureya! He appeared all of a sudden just like how he had disappeared." Number Man admitted.

"I'm coming there right now!" Sigma announced.

Sigma departed the laptop and quickly made his way to Higureya: Number Man was trying to reanimate Rock Man, who was sitting on the ground with his back leaning against the wall.

"When did he appear?" Sigma asked.

"It must've been around a minute ago…" Number Man replied.

"Did you see anyone?"

"No, I didn't. There was another blackout which only lasted for a few seconds, though."

"I'll bring him back home. Ring me if something pops out."

"I understand."

He slowly helped Rock Man rise by grabbing his right wrist and made him lean against his body as he re-appeared on Netto's Link PET.

"Oi, Hikari! Transfer him." Sigma told him.

Netto transferred Saito's Navi frame into his cyborg body and waited: he soon began to blink and react.

"Saito - niisan! Are you alright?" Netto asked him.

"Uh… Netto – kun… Ah!"

He suddenly sat on the bed and looked around, seemingly nervous about something: he looked at his wrists and his body.

"… This is… at home…?" He muttered.

"What happened to you? You've been missing for over half an hour!"

"That guy… I remember! Xon' Edos…" Saito quickly replied.

"Sorry. Could you tell me the whole tale?"

"Huh… Yeah… When I awoke I was being held hostage in a weird Cyber World and the owner of it showed up… It's an alien Net Navi named Xon' Edos… Pretty fancy name, if ya ask me…"

"What? And what did he want outta you?"

"He wanted to analyze me… It turned out that he tried to use my backup data for that purpose but Papa forgot to update it ever since two months ago." Saito brought a hand to his forehead and seemed to be trying to recall.

"And where was he hiding at?"

"Huh… Hmmm… It'd seem he's left me some data of his own… It's on binary… I need a little while to translate it…" Saito replied.

"Ah! Saito – kun! You're alright!" Blood Shadow exclaimed: he'd come in after being warned by Sigma.

"Yeah… Hum… The guy skipped my locked memories, thank goodness… He does know who I am … Oh! He also added that he was merely an observer and means no conflict or harm…" Saito kept checking up his own mind.

"I'm glad you're O.K… I got so scared…" Netto sounded relieved as he hugged him.

"Ah… T-thanks a lot, Netto – kun…" Saito replied while being somewhat distracted and not realizing the implications of it.

"Can you translate the binary data?"

"… A crater in Utah… It must've been the one in the news… Upon making land-fall, he created a sort of "Past Tunnel" and he _physically_ is on the same spot 30 years ago…" Saito translated.

"Whoa! He has time-travelled? Why did he do so?" Netto asked.

"Hum… According to his own data it was because he wanted to closely monitor the origins of the Network… Besides, his superiors have already decided that Earth is fine as it is and doesn't need to be interfered with… I remember! He knew about _Duo_!" Saito suddenly recalled after he finished his earlier explanation.

"He did?" Netto frowned.

"Yeah… His Creators lived in a colony set up by Duo's own creators and they're improvements over the guy… More like Slur…"

"The important thing is that you're alright."

He leant over Saito and stared intensely at his eyes: Saito seemed to be slightly disoriented, since he didn't make any movement.

"Huh… Ah. Thanks… However… I feel slightly disoriented now… Give me a few minutes."

Netto stood up while Saito sat on the bed clasping his forehead.

"Hello. What happened?" Omega appeared on the PC's screen.

"Ah! Commander Omega… To sum it up, an alien Net Navi named Xon' Edos abducted him to analyze him… He's left a message saying he doesn't want to pick up fights with us or threaten the planet at all."

"He must be the one behind that crater in Utah."

"He admitted it. He claimed that he only did it to monitor the development of the Network…" Saito explained.

"Hum. We can be glad no one got hurt… We're now going to increase surveillance of that crater… Stay sharp, guys. I'm going to report to Boss."

"Excuse me… I'm going to fetch an aspirin…" Saito announced as he stood up, still clasping his forehead.

"OK."

Saito left the room and grabbed the handrail as he walked downstairs: he entered the kitchen, opened a cupboard and grabbed the box of aspirins.

"They haven't expired yet…"

He picked one, dissolved it on a glass of room temperature water and drank it: he sighed in relief and returned upstairs to sit down on his bed, looking better.

"Feeling better?" Netto asked him.

"Yeah… Thanks."

"You should take a rest. I guess that what happened to you combined with the stress of the exams have gotten you dizzy."

"I think that's good idea… Wake me up around dinner time…"

Saito lied on his bed and was soon snoring: Netto looked at him and sighed in relief as he sat down in front of the desk.

"It caught us off-guard: but we have the assurance that the same thing won't happen twice."

"Yeah … I'm going to finish up the homework for tomorrow. They don't give us a break…"

"That's because Break Man is in league with Exam Man!"

"Sigma. Shoo, shoo." Blood Shadow fumed.

"And Nam Kaerb is in league with Nam Maxe!"

"Why don't you go patent those already? Leave us in peace."

"Mwah, hah, hah… Too bad, Blood Shadowy~… I've just begun!"

18:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… A billion blue blistering barnacles!"

"What now?"

Hidden Heat was cursing while pacing in front of a metallic door with the label "HIDDEN HEART" on it: she spotted Diamond Duchess, who looked totally unimpressed.

"I had a perfect chance of getting Rock Man, but someone jumped ahead of me! What a wasted chance!" She cursed.

"Don't tell me you wanted to use your S&M sadism stuff on him…"

"I will do it one day! Just you wait!" Hidden Heat threatened.

"Go your half-way, Heart."

Diamond Duchess walked past Hidden Heart, who uttered several curses under her breath before entering her room and slamming the door shut with violence.

"Heart and her S&M sadism manias… If anyone else found out there'd be quite a scandal! Or I guess she already boasted it to that Rock Man _boy_ and he's raised his guard…"

"Nyah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Struggle~!"

"Jeez. And now she's started to image he's actually there. Or maybe she brought some random boy from the surface."

"Struggle and fight in VAIN!"

"Why didn't make the door be sound-proof, anyway? The room's walls are already sound-proof."

"Nyah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Eat these! Eat whip!"

"I think she's trying to imitate those sailor movies when discipline demanded that rebelling sailors be whipped."

"Glory to my Mistress!"

"Jeez. I know both she and I got programmed by a Mistress but we dunno who she was or what she looked like. One thing is clear: she wanted Heart to imitate her and me to just play spoiled kid."

"My dungeon is superb!"

"I stepped inside once and even a woman would start trembling on fear when she sees that." She muttered.

"Nyah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Heart, dear! Lower it!" She called out.

"Che! Don't get in MY way!"

"I'm not getting in your way, dear. I'm just giving you a piece of advice. Or do you want Boss to scold you for your behavior?"

"Che! Boss is old-fashioned! He should go star in the next _Pirates of the Caribbean _movie~! Nyah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"No good, no good…"

"Eat wax! Struggle! Agonize! Suffer! Repent! Beg! Moan! Groan!"

"Jeez. I'm off already."

She walked down one of the corridors while humming _Let It Be _and then spotted Agile Ace coming out of his room while fuming.

"What's wrong, _bad boy_~?" She teased.

"Diamond, huh. Well. I got told by Boss we're all going to go for sorties tomorrow but I'm stuck at what strategy I should go for."

"Oh. Just give it your best: I'm sure you'll think of something, _bad boy_."

"Well… Guess that, yeah. I'll go check with Joker and the other two: Boss has to confirm our different assignments, anyway."

"OK! Good. Then go for it, _cute_ Ace."

Agile Ace rolled his eyes and walked off while Diamond Duchess giggled under her breath and looked rather amused…


	11. Chapter 11: Skirmishes

**Chapter 11: Skirmishes**

09:50 AM (Japan Time), Tuesday December the 23rd…

"… Huff, huff… Over here, Martin!"

"What chaos!"

Charles and Martin ran into a _casino_ building which was a chaos: the slot machines were literally spitting out masses of coins, the roulettes spun like crazy, all lights flickered on and off, security alarms went off at random and CCTV cameras stopped working.

"What nice scenery!" Charles commented with obvious sarcasm.

"Let's find the overgrown root of all this!" Martin added.

They both reached the central computer's room and stopped to regain their breath.

"Plug In! Davis, Transmission!"

"Plug In! Lander, Transmission!"

Both Net Navis entered the system and found two familiar faces messing with the Network Core.

"Agile Ace and Sharp Spade!" Davis exclaimed.

"Huh! So! It was the FOD's work: as we though!" Lander commented.

"The Net Saviors have arrived, it'd seem." Agile Ace smirked.

"Heh! I'm gonna blow 'em up!" Sharp Spade grinned.

"Battle Chip, Justice Sword! Slot In!"

"Colt Spinning!"

While Davis drew a golden-colored Long Sword Battle Chips, Lander drew his two Colts and spun them around his middle fingers: he aimed towards Agile Ace and shot several times in different angles.

"That your best shot…? Huh? What!"

Taking into account the ricocheting properties of the bullets, they soon built a cage around Agile Ace.

"Huh! That was a clever move…"

"Spade Blade!"

"Come here, ugly!"

Davis and Sharp Spade clashed blades and struggled in the deadlock.

"What's your goal?" Davis questioned.

"Goal? We don't need such crappy and outdated stuff! We just wanna blow people up!" Sharp Spade replied with a broad grin.

"You're weird guys, then."

"Ye could say so, _Comrade_."

They broke free of the deadlock and began to clash at different angles, without any visible result.

"Huff! We won't get anywhere at this rate! Let's go! Battle Chip, Justice Cannon! Slot In!"

"Eat cannon!"

A golden-colored Mega Cannon Battle Chip had appeared on Davis' left hand: he aimed it at Sharp Spade's torso and shot it at close-quarters, thus inflicting heavy damage.

"GUOH!"

The explosion sent Sharp Spade flying some meters and he crashed against the structure surrounding the Network Core, getting partly embedded on it: the recoil effect pushed Davis back a few centimeters: he looked amused.

"Why, you…!" Sharp Spade cursed as he tried to break free.

"Bite me." Davis challenged.

"Unh! I'm so gonna do so!"

"… Straight!"

"Ye should do this on the _Saloon_ instead, gambler!"

Lander quickly dodged some of the cards and took out his hat to use it as a shield to block out the attacks: he suddenly shot it like it was a Frisbee towards Agile Ace.

"Huh! Flush!"

Agile Ace summoned the set of five cards and made them act as a barrier to hold back Lander's recent attack.

"A _sheriff_ always has more than one trick under his sleeve in case there's a quarrel in the _Saloon_!" Lander announced.

"This guy… I'm going to slice him up!"

"Let's go, Billy!" Lander announced.

"Who's "Billy"?" Agile Ace frowned.

Lander put two fingers on his lips and produced a whistle: the sound of a horse's legs rang out: a horse-shaped program came into view coming from behind Agile Ace at top speed.

"Battle Chip, Mini Bomb! Triple Slot In!"

Lander threw three Mini-Bombs at Agile Ace, causing him to be filled with smoke: being distracted with the Mini – Bombs, he forgot about the horse, which ran him over.

"Guah!"

The horse made a sound like it was satisfied and stopped next to Lander, who climbed on top of it and smiled.

"In the name of the _Sheriff_, I forbid you from setting your feet on my city's _saloon_ again! Scramble! You cheap dude! Or else eat lead! Or else be filled with petrol and feathers!" Lander sentenced as he aimed both Colts at Agile Ace.

"What a…! Unh! I'll be back!"

Agile Ace was surrounded by a sphere made of cards and vanished from the scene.

"DIE~!"

"You're fired."

Sharp Shape had broken free and had drawn both swords: he was aiming for Davis' neck, but Davis merely smiled and brought up an African-like shield with a terrific face painted on it.

"Yikes!"

Sharp Spade stopped his attack and quickly landed on the ground: he stepped back before running towards the shield and slashing it twice with his swords: the result was that his swords broke while the shield was unscratched.

"What in the…! Impossible!" He uttered

"Heh. I added the Monolith's thick material over it… I told ya: you're _fired_!" Davis grinned.

"Battle Chip, Justice Bomb! Slot In!"

Davis threw a golden-colored sphere over the shield and it landed at Sharp Spade's feet: the bomb went off and he was sent flying.

"I shall remember this!" He roared.

The usual sphere of cards formed and he vanished from the scene as well: both Navis sighed in relief as the Network Core returned to normal thus ending the chaos.

"Good job, _Sheriff_!" Davis told him.

"I think I hadn't introduced you guys to Billy, my loyal horse! A _sheriff_ must have a horse, obviously enough!" Lander grinned.

"I see that you've made a lot of improvements to your battle tactic over the years, Martin." Charles commented to him.

"I obviously did!" Martin smiled back at him.

10:14 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Scope Gun!"

"Club Madness!"

"Blues Sword!"

"Destruction Gauntlet!"

Search Man was trying to dodge the clubs being thrown at him by Cunning Club and shot back at the same time: Blues, on the other hand, had drawn his sword to try to hold back Jet Joker's powerful attack.

"Hah, hah, hah!"

"Shit."

His energized gauntlet hit the sword and began to crack it until it broke, pushing Blues back: however, Jet Joker's attack had lost a large chunk of its strength this way.

"Battle Chip, Wide Blade! Slot In!" Enzan announced.

Blues drew the blade and managed to land a shallow cut on Jet Joker's upper chest.

"Gauntlet of Chaos!"

Black energy accumulated on the closed fist: Jet Joker punched the ground and a brutal energy shockwave spread across the ground thus making explosions and cracks on it: Blues barely jumped away on time to avoid them.

"Battle Chip, Fumikomi Cross! Slot In!"

Blues warped and quickly appeared behind Jet Joker: he dashed forwards, leaving a cut shaped like the Alphabet letter "X" on his enemy's back.

"Ugh! Not bad…" Jet Joker smiled.

"Damn. It's gonna take us forever at this rate…" Enzan muttered.

"… Colossal Club!"

"Battle Chip, Freeze Bullet! Slot In!"

Cunning Club was running towards Search Man with a large oak club on his hands: he was using it as a shield to deflect Search Man's shots.

"Useless."

Search Man aimed for the ground and shot a charged up Freeze Bullet at it, freezing it and greatly reducing its friction: Cunning Club began to slip and dance, lacking footing: he eventually slipped and crashed with his back into the ground.

"Ouch, ouch, ou~ch! That hurt…!" He cursed.

"You're out of circulation." Search Man announced as he aimed his Scope Gun.

"Falling Club!"

A club appeared on the sky above Search Man and fell in free fall mode towards him.

"Search Man! Look above you!" Laika commanded.

Search Man quickly aimed upwards and shot at the club, splitting it in half: both halves hit the ground near him and self-deleted.

"Phew! That was close… Now…"

He turned around and, unsurprisingly enough, Cunning Club was nowhere to be seen even with his scanning capabilities.

"The enemy has retreated, Laika – sama." He reported.

"Hum. Whatever. Let's see how Enzan is handling the situation like. He must be sweating by now." Laika smirked.

"Oi! Will you be quiet? I'm trying to deal with that prehistoric age brute dude." Enzan complained.

"Double Gauntlets of Annihilation!"

"My bad, VP – sama."

Both of Jet Joker's gauntlets shone and flames began to build up around them: the gauntlets now looked like they were hot iron pending cooling and molding.

"This is one of my ultimate attacks! Be gone, Net Savior!"

Jet Joker ignited a jetpack on his back and shot at a mad speed towards Blues: Blues was replaced by a _chibi_ doll when he was inches away from making contact.

"Ah! That's…!"

Jet Joker couldn't stop himself as he hit the doll and set it on fire: the fire even spread to the surrounding area via some crevices that opened and spit out fire like it was coming out from Hell itself.

"Program Advance!"

"Program Advance!"

"Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword!"

"Dream Sword."

The powerful attack left a trail on the ground as it headed towards Jet Joker, who couldn't react in time: it hit him fully and an explosion ensued.

"GUO~H!"

When the explosion's light and smoke dispersed or faded away, Jet Joker was nowhere to be seen anymore.

"Phew! We managed to force him to retreat… What a beastly dude he was!" Blues sighed in relief.

"Yeah. He couldn't be crazier than this. At the very least we secured this _sushi_ factory."

"You didn't handle this one bad, Enzan. Maybe I'll compliment you, after all." Laika told him with a smirk.

"What do you mean by "this one", huh? I've handed other fights very well, mind you." Enzan glanced at him with an unimpressed look.

11:33 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh! De masu! I've been making some good sales recently, de masu… The spirits must be looking after me, de masu!"

"Spirits don't exist, Yamitarou."

Higure was commenting aloud the results of his recent sales and rubbing his hands: he looked very animated while Number Man sounded rather skeptical.

"Ouija Board: engage!" A somewhat pitchy-like manly voice announced.

"Huh? Who goes there, de masu?" Higure looked around.

A wooden board popped out of nowhere and floated in the air: it had several things written in English:

The word "YES" was placed near the top-left corner and other stuff included a round spot apparently representing the sun.

The word "NO" was paced near the top-right corner was and there also a drawing of the moon.

The middle part of the board contained two rows shaped like arches listing all of the alphabet's letters.

A ghostly blue arm and hand with a metallic piece shaped like a triangle facing downwards and a round hole on it was hovering over it.

There was a string of numbers spanning all the way from number "1" to number "0" placed beneath those two rows.

The word "GOOD BYE" was written directly beneath it with two round green circles with stars draw on it.

"W-what the heck is that, de masu? Are the Western spirits coming to give me a message, de masu?" Higure looked rather nervous.

The "arm" moved on its own making a creaking-like noise: the metallic piece stopped and the character selected was the letter "D".

"Huh? Masu?"

It floated into the air surrounded by a while light and painted in a blue color: it was overall drawn as slightly blurry.

"What the heck is that? "D"…? Does it mean "D" as in "Discount", then? De masu?" Higure wondered aloud.

"Ouija Board Effect: Activate!" The same voice announced.

The "arm" moved again and the letter "E" popped out on the air.

"…"DE"…? "Daily Earning"! It's obvious it means that, de masu! I'm a genius!" Higure grinned.

"Ouija Board Effect: Activate!" The voice repeated.

The same procedure was done again, only that this time, the letter "A" showed up.

"…"DEA"…? "Duke of Earl Adventure"? De masu? Is that a new videogame, de masu?" Higure tried to guess.

"Ouija Board Effect: Activate!" The voice rang out for the fourth consecutive time.

The letter "T" floated in the air: Higure frowned and brought a hand to his chin.

"Oh, I know! De masu! "Duke of Earl Adventure Trailer"! De masu! It's so easy! De masu!" Higure grinned.

"Hah, hah, hah! Higure Yamitarou! Ye're gonna go to Hell: just that ya know it!" The voice laughed and spoke in a rude manner.

"HUH? Wha~t? De masu? Show yourself! De masu! Fight like a man, you bandit! De masu!" Higure was pissed off now.

"Hmph! It's too late! Here's what the spirits wanted to tell ya! Bwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!" The voice laughed.

The "arm" moved a fifth time and the letter "H" popped out.

"What… "Duke of Earl Adventure Trailer Hour"! What sentence is that, de masu?" Higure laughed.

"You nitwit! These are written in Capital English characters but they're not initials! It's a word! Spell it letter by letter!" The voice told him with some irritation on its tone.

"D-E-A-T-H, de masu… What kind of word is that, de masu?" Higure didn't see the point of it.

"You're sillier than I thought, then! D-E-A-T-H! DEATH! _DESU_!" The voice told him.

"W-WHA~T? DEATH, DE MASU~? I'm gonna die, de masu! MARIKO – SENSEI~!"

Higure collapsed the counter in a weird manner, one of his legs sticking out and aiming for the ceiling.

"Am I dead…? De masu…?"

"That's what happens when you believe in this Occult stuff, Yamitarou. I hope you've gotten the lesson." Number Man scolded him.

A cloud of smoke suddenly formed: the Ouija Board and the letters vanished and Dark Miyabi showed up instead.

"Is this store out of business?" He asked with obvious sarcasm.

"Ah! A customer, de masu…! Huh! De masu! T-that's Mi-Miyabi - san!"

"So? Did the spirits give you a nice particular and explicit message?"

"… DE MASU~! You set me up! You used a hologram, de masu! Netto – kun and Saito – kun gave you the idea, didn't they! De masu!"

"They provided the holograms, but I was the voice. They couldn't steep down to use such rude language on you, Higure."

"Occult stuff is never good for the health, just that you know it. If I were you, I'd quit. Try Arcane stuff next." Shadow Man chuckled.

"Why, the nerve of these guys…! OUT! GET OUTTA MY PRECIOUS STORE, DE MASU~! I'm gonna destroy something at this rate, de masu~!"

Miyabi disappeared with a cloud of smoke while Higure kept on cursing…

11:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"Cutting Diamonds!"

"Beast Breath! This is the Greiga Bestialize Style!"

Diamond Duchess was facing off against Isaac, who'd gained a new form over his body.

His helmet had the shape of a beast's mouth plus six triangles spreading in a formation colored golden: a symbol which looked like some kind of orange star was set on the segment of it corresponding to the helmet's forehead.

A black mouth-guard covered the nose and mouth.

The chest armor was colored in a greenish color with thin goldenrod borders and three white shapes in the form of claws placed over the shoulders: a hole in the middle of the armor allowed for the chest emblem to be displayed: there were two pieces of reddish armor built directly underneath the main one.

The forearm armor started slightly below the elbows and contained a red segment before the main piece which had two claws protruding from it and over the hands.

The feet armor started below the knee and included two goldenrod diamond-like shapes over the knees: the feet had red armor just before the fingers started, which had been turned into a set of three claws which looked sharp.

Lastly, he also had a green tail with two golden shapes built near the end of it protruding from his back.

He shot out a stream of fire from the face-mask thus burning to cinders her Diamond-themed Trump cards.

"What power!" She gasped.

"This is the power of the Synchronizer!" Isaac announced.

"What the heck is the "Synchronizer"?"

"Sorry. But that's classified." Isaac chuckled.

"This guy…! Diamond Towers!"

Some pillars made of bluish ice-like diamond emerged from the ground and tried to stab into Isaac: Isaac quickly dodged by jumping from column to column until he landed in front of Diamond Duchess.

"Greiga Claw!"

Isaac quickly dashed around her and made several cuts using the claws built into his forearms: Diamond Duchess shrieked and tried to shield against the relentless attacks.

"He's too fast!" She cursed.

"So! You duchess wannabe! Giving up?" Isaac told her.

"You called me "duchess wannabe"! You're gonna die for that insult!"

"Oh, I don't think so… Battle Chip, Boomerang! Slot In!"

Isaac shot out the boomerang and it circled around his enemy, hitting her on the back and knocking her into the ground.

"Attacking from behind… That's low!" She cursed.

"Sorry. But all's fair in war." Isaac shrugged.

"I'm going to slaughter you! Diamond Weapons!"

Two weapons appeared on Diamond Duchess' wrists: they were basically a circle with three blades attached to them which spun around, creating a circular saw-like effect.

"DIE!"

Diamond Duchess jumped towards Isaac while spinning her blades. Isaac, however, just turned around and hit her face hard with his body's tail: the hit knocked her off the air, making her fall into the ground in a totally unceremoniously manner.

"Grah! I'd never though the tail was a weapon, too!" She hissed.

"If you value your fake hide, you should run." Isaac told her.

"…"Fake hide"! This isn't the last you'll see from us FOD, Net Saviors!"

Diamond Duchess performed the usual trick with the sphere of cards and fled from the Internet City warehouse she'd been at.

"I wonder how those two are doing like." Nelaus sighed in relief.

"Knowing them, they surely have blown her away by now. Or, rather, sent her flying all the way to Gondwana." Isaac joked.

"That's not a bad joke, either, you know." Nelaus smirked as well.

"Lemme try to activate the 2nd form on my own… Falzer!"

A column of crimson energy formed and shot skywards as Isaac's extra armor changed shape.

This form had a helmet with a golden edge and a red shape aiming backwards and upwards protruding from it: a greenish jewel in the form of a bird was set on the forehead as well.

The face was partly hidden by the mouth-guard yet the eyes displayed that Isaac was conscious of what he was doing.

The upper part of the chest armor had a brownish/grayish color plus a red stripe just underneath the blackened chest emblem: it looked like a bird's torso, even.

The forearms had red armor with a grayish/brownish edge around the wrists plus a small triangle-like piece near the start of it: the hands had become finger-claws colored white.

The boots had a greenish/azure diamond set over the knees and a general conical shape with three large metallic claws instead of the usual feet fingers.

Two sets of wings of four each one colored red with an azure edge emerged from the back of the body and seemingly allowed for Isaac to fly.

"Heh. I look so cool… Let's go back and report to Prism Man."

12:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… This time around you shall be my toy!"

"People aren't toys. And I'm not a doll."

Soul Unison Omega Soul Rock Man was having his rematch with Hidden Heart inside of a convenience store's cashier Cyber World: Rock Man had the O – Saber ignited and was ready for combat, while Hidden Heart had acquired a kind of mask colored pale green to hide her mouth and nose: it gave her a creepy effect for some reason or another.

"Terror Whip!"

A whip filled with needles and thorns appeared on her right and it looked menacing enough.

"Sorry. But when I have a Soul Unison on, it adds another layer of armor to my body. This won't affect me." Rock Man calmly told her.

"I care not! Let's go!"

Hidden Heart shot out the whip and rolled it around a steel column in the ceiling: she jumped forward and used the whip as a rope to gain speed as she headed towards Rock Man.

"You're mine!"

"Sorry. But that ain't gonna happen."

Rock Man calmly switched to O – Buster and shot the ice spear towards the whip: it passed through it, breaking it in half and making Hidden Heart fall into the ground about two meters short of her intended target.

"Ouch! You filthy barbarian…! You clearly need to be taught discipline, then!" She cursed.

Rock Man didn't reply as he shot a sphere of plasma from his O – Buster: it hit whatever remained of the whip and set it on fire.

"Kya~h! My perfect tool…!" She shrieked.

Soon, nothing but cinders remained of that terrifying tool.

"How dare you…! How dare you…!" She hissed.

"I dare." Rock Man dully replied.

"I have other methods! Chain of the Underworld!"

A chain with a hook on it (similar to those used by pirates to board other ships) appeared on her hands: she quickly spun it around and shot it towards Rock Man.

"Useless."

Rock Man merely switched back to the O – Saber and performed a vertical rising attack, propelling him out of the ground and making the chain's hook shoot past him and get stuck on the wall.

"Commendable, yet futile. Send us a postcard once you reach the Siberia _gulag_! Hra~h!"

Rock Man charged up energy on the saber and unleashed it in front of Hidden Heart's noses, causing an explosion and sending her flying out of the Cyber World.

"YOU SHALL BE MINE~!" She roared.

Soon enough, Hidden Heart was out of sight: Rock Man sighed in relief and stored his weapons.

"She needs to be psycho-analyzed."

"Yeah. She's a female S&M sadist. Only someone like that would say such stuff. Anyway… Come back home. And let's hope we can stay far, far away from her."

Rock Man plugged out from the Cyber World and returned to Netto's Link PET: he checked a mail icon.

"By the way… There's a mail from Miyabi. He reports that the Ouija Board Scheme was a total success." Rock Man reported.

"Heh, heh, heh! I knew it'd be!" Netto grinned.

"It was obvious." Rock Man grinned.

12:41 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Oh! I can see it! He is no longer confused… He sees everything clearly by now… Dear! This is your golden opportunity!"

Ms. Glassy was doing another _tarot_ session with Aura, who, as always, was totally engrossed into it.

"Is that true, ma'am?" She asked with eagerness.

"Cards do not lie, dear! It is clearer than crystalline water, even!" She announced.

"Then, I shall go for it…" Aura giggled.

"Do remember to have patience! Things like these do not happen in a breeze… In my times, these things used to develop after various years of companionship… You should take it with calm. There are things which will most likely take your time, but there is a moment for everything, my dear." Ms. Glassy told Aura.

"That's so true, ma'am! You're totally right with it." Aura smiled and nodded in agreement.

"That's correct, dear."

Aura stood up and handed Ms. Glassy the payment for the session: she looked about to run out from the excitement.

"I shall be seeing you on another occasion. Have a good afternoon, ma'am." Aura politely bowed.

"You're always welcome, my dear!"

Aura ran off, excited, and giggling while Ms. Glassy formed a creepy smile as she opened a drawer and took out a diary in which she noted down something before closing it.

"Heh, heh, heh… That gentleman helped a lot by telling me a strategy to get information out of that young Net Savior… Maybe he will try to prove his own strength by letting out stuff and that little girl will come tell me: it's a flawless strategy!"

21:50 PM (Japan Time)…

"… All's ready for tomorrow. We should be hitting the sack soon, Saito - niisan."

"Okay."

Netto and Saito were about to hit the sack after dinner when Netto's Link PET began to ring.

"Who is calling me, Sigma?" Netto asked him.

"Hum… It's a foreign number." Sigma looked at it.

"Foreign? Could it be Raoul?"

"No… It's not the 00 prefix… It's the 52 prefix… That's not Ameroupe."

"Hmmm… Patch it through."

"Sure."

"_Ajá! __Conque al fin se atreve a responder! Soy el juez de instrucción del pueblo! A ver, dónde está nuestra mascota, la avestruz Linda? Confiese!_" A heavy South Ameroupe – accented voice sounded.

"That's Vincent's voice!" Both twins whispered to each other.

"I remember! Prefix 52 is Mexico's call code!" Sigma realized.

"What the heck did he say? I switched off my automated translating program…" Saito asked.

"Hum… "Aha! So! You finally have the guts to answer! I'm the village's country court judge! So! Where is our mascot, the ostrich _Linda_? Confess!"… That's what he said." Blood Shadow translated.

"He thinks he's a country court judge and that someone has stolen the village's mascot, an ostrich? Just how many cups of Mexican Vodka did he drink tonight?" Netto wondered next.

"Leave it to me… _Oiga! Yo vi que el tío Berzas se la llevaba a su granja! Ahí estará!_" Sigma told him.

"_El tío Berzas! Ya lo sabía yo que el tipo tenía simpatías con los yanquis! Se vía a enterá de quién manda acá! Acá mando YO!"_

There was some laughter over the line before it died down.

"What did you tell him?" Saito asked.

"I told him this: "Hey! I saw Uncle Cabbage taking it to his farm! It must be there!"…" Sigma grinned.

"And he replied: "Uncle Cabbage! I suspected that the guy had sympathies for the _Yankees_! He's so gonna learn who's in charge in 'ere! _I_ am in charge!"…" Blood Shadow exploded into laughter.

"Uncle Cabbage's farm… That's in Sabadell, near Barcelona! Charles went there in October!" Netto remembered.

"Bwah, hah, hah! Let's see when he'll figure it out!"

"Vincent's drunken ramblings are crazy!"

"Totally." Blood Shadow admitted.

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… I'd say Tnecniv Strikes Back!"

"Jeez. Quit it with Shadow Man's "Mirroring Spell" deal…"

"One day I'll bring out the PKMN "Purin" and have it sing across the school: everyone will dance to the rhythm of _Viva La Vida_!"

"Please… Don't bring trouble to the institute." Netto groaned.

"That's the least thing we need!" Saito protested.

"You heard them, Sigma. Do that on the FOD's hideout."

"OK, OK…" He grinned.

"I insist! Don't try it or Boss will get annoyed and lock you on the capsule for a while like in the summer."

"Yikes! T-then I'll quit it."

"Fine. Let's go nap already: we've got busy days ahead of us!"

22:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… By the Jolly Roger! All of them were beaten again, Boss!"

"It doesn't matter."

Buccaneer Man was speaking with a man who could be on 30s and about a meter and eighty tall.

He had brown hair and some unkempt beard while his eyes' irises were brown.

He wore business attire.

He was leaning his back against the wall of one corridor and looked calm.

"We're just collecting data to build up our database. If they get beaten up, then it's of little consequence." The man calmly replied.

"Okay, Boss… I'm going to oversee the repairs of the _Despair_… See ya later."

"Do as you like."

"Aye, aye!"

Buccaneer Man departed the corridor while the man sighed: he looked tired now.

"Just why me, of all people, had to get involved into this stuff…? Let's hope I'll make it alive through this… This does not look well at all… God knows how this is going to end up like…"

He sighed and walked away but he failed to spot the "Talon" hiding in an unlit corner: they began to run down the corridors and stopped when they saw Agile Ace and Jet Joker talking.

"It'd seem things are quickly rushing towards the climax, Joker."

"Fine. At least our combat data database is rather filled up… We're not going to make the same mistakes Atomic Network did."

"Yeah. They were laughable."

"Truly! They didn't want to admit they hadn't bothered to prepare a good strategy based on study of combat data." Sharp Spade joined them with a smirk.

"We're way above them!" Cunning Club added.

The "Talon" sneaked elsewhere and spotted Diamond Duchess talking with Hidden Heart: she was leaning her back against her own room's door while impatiently crossing her arms: she was tapping her left arm with the index and middle finger.

"Heart, dear… If you turn persistent then they're going to increase the security and then it'll be impossible to come any closer."

"GRJKHAT!"

"We don't need Martian V111.11, dear."

"When did you become my _senpai_, anyway?"

"I never said I was your _senpai_, Heart, sweetie."

"Nya~h!"

"Neko Virus Version 12.08?" Diamond Duchess ironically asked.

"Huff! I'm fed up. I need to replay my recordings. This way I'll be ready for the next mission. See cha around!"

She opened the door and slammed it shut: Diamond Duchess sighed and walked away while being seemingly defeated.

"Heart… You're TOO stubborn for your own good, did cha know that?"

The "Talon" waited until Diamond Duchess was out of sight and knocked on the door using a sequence of short and long knocks: Hidden Heart opened the door and grinned.

"Was waiting for cha… Ready for an intense night…?"

"I am ready, my Lady."

He stepped in and the door closed while she giggled aloud…


	12. Chapter 12: Into the lion's jaws

**Chapter 12: Into the lion's jaws**

11:03 AM (Japan Time) Saturday December the 27th …

"… Insofar… The organization FOD doesn't seem to have any specific goals per se. We have guessed that they must be trying to build up some kind of database about the capabilities of various Net Navis. Maybe they think that, if they analyze their data, they might find weak points."

Commissioner Kifune had arranged for a meeting in a furnished warehouse somewhere: he, Manabe, Laika, Enzan, Nelaus, Netto and Saito had come there and were sitting in chairs around the central plastic table: some cups of water and a jar had been set there too.

"That's how it looks like." Laika nodded in agreement but he looked rather sleepy, though.

"Regarding the location of their HQ… It may very possibly be located outside of Japan. We have several examples of that: Neo Gospel, Deadly Pandora and, lastly, Atomic Network." Superintendent Manabe listed.

"Yeah. They might use the same trick, too." Enzan agreed: he too looked rather sleepy.

Netto and Saito had been glancing at both of them: Nelaus looked quite wide awake and was seemingly thinking about something.

_Enzan surely stayed up late this night to work on something. Let's hope he didn't buy any weird S&M stuff online again._ _I know I don't care but if he tries to "level up" then… I'm not sure how I'd react._

_Laika also looks like he was searching the Reverse Cyber World from the top to the bottom all night long: it's no surprise he looks so sleepy, either. _

"… Nelaus – kun? Do you have any specific ideas regarding this topic, perhaps?" Superintendent Manabe asked him.

"Huh? Eh… Sorry. I don't… I was a bit side-tracked… I apologize, Superintendent." Nelaus seemed to snap out of a daydream-like state.

"Oh. There's no problem!"

"Huh… I think that those guys won't stay quiet for much longer… They'll surely show up again today." Netto ventured.

"We've got that feeling." Saito added.

"Hum! They won't stay quiet for much longer they haven't attacked anyone else who wasn't a Net Savior… It strikes me as odd while taking into account their actions in Sharo Nation." Commissioner Kifune brought a hand to his chin.

"Heh! If they show up, then Swordsman Number Two is gonna slice them up!" Sigma grinned.

"Oi! I'm still Swordsman Number Three, then?" Blues asked Sigma with a broad smile.

"I didn't know you'd been _degraded_, Blues." Search Man smirked.

"Yeah. You and your sarcasm, Search Man... It wouldn't even impress a passerby tourist." Blues shot back at him.

"Guys… Don't quarrel." Blood Shadow told them.

"It'll do us no good." Isaac added.

Some objects suddenly broke through the warehouse's floor ground windows and landed inside: everyone quickly stood up to see green smoke beginning to fill the room.

"Sleeping gas grenades…!" Laika exclaimed.

More grenades were shot inside and the smoke expanded at mad speed: it irritated their sight and they couldn't see what was going on around them.

"Somebody… Call for reinforcements!" Commissioner Kifune called out.

"I'll go!" Blood Shadow announced.

"My bad! But you're not going anywhere! This is as far as you get!" A man's voice laughed.

Electronic cages formed around the Navis, thus immobilizing them and stopping them from moving out of them.

"What the…!" Blood Shadow cursed.

Cunning Club appeared in front of Blood Shadow all of a sudden.

"Cunning Club!"

"You fell for it! Our insider told us about this secret meeting. Now you're in our hands!" Cunning Club laughed.

"Damn you!"

"This cage prevents signals from going in and out! Nobody will know where you will be at! Enjoy your nap!"

Electricity shot out from the cage and hit Blood Shadow thus triggering his hibernation mode.

"Uack!" Blood Shadow groaned before blacking out.

"Gruah!" Sigma uttered.

"Shit!" Isaac cursed.

"Damn!" Search Man growled.

"Fuck!" Blues hissed.

Netto and Saito had tried running towards the direction of the door despite their increasing sleepiness.

"We're… almost there!" Netto coughed.

"I know…!" Saito coughed as well.

"Goin' somewhere, my lads?" A rough voice asked with a hint of amusement and using pirate dialect.

Both Netto and Saito felt shivers go down their spines.

_Crap!_

_That guy!_

The last thing they felt was something hard hitting the back of their skulls before they blacked out…

11:33 AM (Japan Time)…

"… O~w… My skull… Goddamn it!"

Netto began to awaken: his eyes were irritated, but he could open them nevertheless: all was blurry around him.

"Ugh…"

He felt like he was sitting on some cold metallic ground and his legs, shoulders and wrists were tied with thick ropes while his back was leaning against something metallic.

"Great… Why do I always get abducted, anyway…?" He groaned.

"Ask the Lord…" A familiar voice told him at his right with a hint of sarcasm.

Netto managed to focus his sight and spotted Saito in the same position as he was: Nelaus and Laika were at Saito's right: Netto looked to his left and spotted Enzan: both Enzan and Laika seemed to be still out cold.

"Where the heck are we? Niisan?" Netto asked him.

"Wish I knew… If I had to bet, I'd say this is the FOD's HQ… Look behind you." Saito replied in a whisper.

Netto looked and spotted Cunning Club and Diamond Duchess chatting and standing in front of a complex console with lots of input keys, a keyboard, a mouse, LEDs, indicators, switches, and so: the console, which had the shape of a curve, was placed beneath a gigantic LCD screen attached to a wide cylindrical column.

The whole set was built atop a wide cylindrical platform set inside of a huge underground cubic-shaped metallic room.

"Yeah. I guess so… Where are Sigma and Blood?"

"We're here! We're locked in."

"Cunning Club and the others engaged cages around us. They knocked us out and we awoke five minutes ago."

"This is obviously underground." Isaac guessed.

"I think I heard Cunning Club saying something about an insider tipping them off." Nelaus told them.

"The Commissioner's suspicions were correct, then. We should've paid more attention to them." Blues growled.

"We'll have to unmask that insider once we get outta here." Search Man added.

"… Where did Spade go off to, anyway?" Cunning Club was asking Diamond Duchess.

"He went to check out the fusion generator like he always does all mornings." Diamond Duchess shrugged.

"By the way… Heat sure had a fit of rage, huh? Rock Man wasn't in Hikari Netto's PET… He'd just happened to have gone to the Science Labs for some tests." Cunning Club smirked.

"Oh! My! Truly! She ran off and she's surely trying to make her way through the Science Labs' firewalls… I doubt her being capable of doing that, though… Spade is the one who better knows how to break through them."

"Yeah. Joker is way too destructive when it comes to the topic and Ace would rather circle around it. Boss would prefer to bring out the _Despair_ and blow it up with its cannons." Cunning Club chuckled.

"I wonder just who programmed that sadist trait into Heart… It must've someone who loves the S&M sadism stuff as well. I know it's a Mistress and I've got the vague feeling they programmed me too but maybe they thought Heart would do better." Diamond Duchess shrugged.

"And I'd rather not set a foot on her room. Only God knows what she stores in there, if we take into account her S&M sadist nature...I'd rather say 100 miles away from it!"

"This is Spade. I'm finishing up my patrol of the fusion reactor room right now. Over." Sharp Spade's voice came over a COM channel.

11:39 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Tan, tan, tan…"

Sharp Spade had been circling a large metallic cylinder with many lights, pipes, wires and LCD screens attached to it: various pipes extended from both extremes into the ground and ceiling.

The rest of the room contained more pipes, wires and small LED lights.

BANG! BANG!

Some banging against metal could be heard close by: Sharp Spade looked around and spotted one air conditioner duct cover being kicked off.

"Who goes there?" Sharp Spade demanded as he drew his blades.

The cover was kicked out of its frame and it hit Sharp Spade in the face, propelling him towards the cylinder and making him get partly stuck in there.

"Groah!"

"Hullo. The _Dark Messiah_ has come to visit ya." Omega announced as he slipped out of the duct and gracefully landed on the ground.

"You're Omega!" Sharp Spade cursed.

"Oi! Wait for the rest of the team!" A voice added.

Both Charles and Martin came out of the duct.

"Morgangantz and Blackdesu!" Sharp Spade gasped.

"Take a nap, will ya?"

Omega grabbed Sharp Spade's chest emblem and applied pressure to it: Sharp Spade roared but had no time to react as Omega stabbed him on the right shoulder: his systems began to shut down and he fell to the ground, having been forced into hibernation mode.

"Coast is clear. Who'd said that the meeting point contained an entrance to this Top-Secret JDSF facility? This reeks to a conspiracy, I'd rather say."

11:42 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Spade? Oi! Spade! Say something!"

"What could've happened?"

Cunning Club and Diamond Duchess were concerned over the fact that Spade had suddenly stopped reporting.

"Chance…!"

Taking profit of their distraction, Nelaus had managed to take out a service panel and use its sharp edge to cut his wrist's ropes: he managed to undo the rest of them and cancelled his PET's lockdown.

"Good."

He then quickly helped the other undo their ropes and cancel the lockdowns on their Link PETs.

"We need to distract them." Enzan suggested in a whisper.

Netto took out the hologram projector and Plugged Blood Shadow into it: he made some adjustments and departed: Netto engaged it and projected a hologram of Sharp Spade.

"Spade!" Diamond Duchess greeted.

"Spade! _Aibou_! What was that scandal? Don't tell me that the _Musketeers_ have found us!" Cunning Club asked as he ran towards him.

Spade suddenly turned_ transparent_ and Cunning Club recoiled, afraid, pointing his right hand's middle finger at him.

"S-Spade! Y-you've become… An immaterial Net Navi!"

"You nitwits!" A voice roared.

Both of them looked at their left, towards the base of the platform and spotted the real Spade warping in.

"That's a childish hologram! Check the hostages!"

"What hostages! They ran away! Quick! Let's split and find them!"

11:45 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Do we dare?"

"Well… Maybe there's a map."

"… Breathe in…"

"3, 2, 1… Go!"

Netto and Saito had been running down a corridor when they reached the door to Hidden Heart's room: they failed to spot the "Talon" hidden inside of an air duct and looking at them in silence.

"What in the…"

"What the…"

Both had dared to come in and stopped dead on their tracks upon seeing the panorama.

Right next to the entrance there was a king-sized bed with four wooden columns set on its corners and which ended in a ceiling from which three purplish silk curtains hung: they were currently closed.

To their left there was a wooden table with restrains for the wrists and ankles and the head of it aiming south: the north end had a round circle which apparently auctioned a piston having two thick menacing vibrators filled with dots on them.

North of it was a small rectangular cavity which had been built on the floor as it if was a small pool: it contained a metallic diagonal table with restrains for the neck, wrists and ankles.

Eight small cylindrical devices with a small hole were placed near each edge on the surface and they looked like they could incline: their function didn't seem to be obvious.

The insides of the cavity also had some black plastic tendrils: two of them contained a cylindrical metallic device which had an opening on its base and were floating around the spot where the tied person's nipples would be at.

Another two tendrils contained thick vibrators filled with dots and were positioned to aim for the tied person's ass.

There was a fifth one which loomed over the spot where the tied person's cock would be at too.

Set on the wall above both devices was a large banner having a black frame and containing a picture of the _SS Despair_ with the Alphabet letters "FOD" colored red blood super-imposed over it.

Next to the cavity was the infamous column machine.

Set on the left side of the northern wall was a glass case having a mannequin with the S&M gear on its body.

The center of the right wall contained a wooden "X" with restrains for the wrists and ankles too and having rails to lift or lower it by a set height.

Two parallel rails were built on the ground and a metallic triangular horse could slide across them: it contained two menacing vibrators too.

The right corner of the north wall had a wood panel with a lot of stuff on it including chains with rings for the nipples, urethra beads, anal beads, a ball-gag, a blindfold, a whip and red candles.

Directly opposite the column was a chair with a duo of vibrators built on it and having some unfastened leather bands to keep the prisoner glued to its legs, armrests and body.

The north wall's top also had a large banner with a purple frame depicting a golden triangle with the Alphabet letter "D" colored purple inside of its body: three golden stars of five arms each occupied the vortexes.

Several right fists rising in a saluting or victorious pose surrounded the triangle from the sides and the background too.

The room was lit by some lamps hanging from the ceiling and fully illuminating each device but leaving some unlit spots as if to confuse those inside about the total size of the room.

The walls were smooth metallic and plain and so was the ceiling.

"By all the… This gotta be worse than the "Palace"…!" Netto cursed.

"Out! Let's get OUT!" Saito hysterically exclaimed.

They ran out slamming the door shut behind them and being totally white and shocked: they ran off at top speed while the "Talon" chuckled under his breath.

"Weak-willed…" He muttered.

The two of them ran into a crossroad and found Laika, Nelaus and Enzan coming from other directions.

"Hey! Did you find anything?" Enzan asked.

"No! We didn't!" Both simultaneously replied.

"You look pale. What happened?" Laika pointed out.

"We stumbled upon a freezer room and we almost got locked inside! I hate cold!" Netto uttered.

"We only managed to get out in time!"

"Okay, I understand." Laika shrugged.

"Hey! Guys! Do we have anything?" Nelaus asked them.

"No. It'd seem we have to go north." Enzan replied.

They ran towards the north and crossed a door: they found a hangar containing a worn out blue Seat car.

"I'll take note of the registration plate. It surely belongs to the head of the FOD… I mean… The scapegoat fellow…" Laika commented.

The other four looked around and spotted an exit shutter up ahead: this same shutter suddenly opened and Buccaneer Man stepped in.

"By the Jolly Roger! Did you think ye'd run away, deserters? The whip is waiting for ya rats!" He announced while drawing out a whip.

"Oh! Hell! Don't tell it's like in those sailing movies… Make a run for it, everyone!" Nelaus uttered.

Everyone agreed and ran down the same corridor only to stumble upon both Agile Ace and Jet Joker.

"You won't get past here. "P. W." won't be foiled." Agile Ace announced with obvious annoyance on his voice.

"I'd say the same thing myself!" Jet Joker announced.

The room's colors suddenly distorted, signaling that a "Dimensional Area" had been triggered.

"COME AT FULL POWER!" Sigma roared as he materialized.

"This is rematch time, twerps!"

Netto and Saito took profit of the distraction to slip past those two while the other tree drew their "Synchro Chips".

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

"CF" Nelaus, "CF" Blues and "CF" Laika appeared: the three of them faced Buccaneer Man.

"Damn! Computer: start combat data recording and live encrypted transmission! P. W. needs this last batch of data!" Buccaneer Man commanded over his radio.

"Roger." An automated computer voice replied.

"Club, Spade! Get your asses here!"

"We'd like to, but we're facing Morgangantz and Blackdesu!" Sharp Spade reported over the COM channel.

"Diamond, Heart! Come here!"

"I'm busy dealing with Omega!" Diamond Duchess replied.

"I'm here!" Hidden Heart announced as she appeared from another entrance.

"You pick the green one. I'll have the red one!"

"Roger!"

"CF" Nelaus took profit of this and ran off the corridor they'd come in from to look for the twins: he spotted a door and knocked on it.

"Hikari, Saito? It's me, Nelaus!"

"Come in!"

"CF" Nelaus came in: the room was a storeroom of sorts filled with all sorts of electronic pieces: Netto and Saito had been ducking behind a stacked pile of them.

"All of them have their hands tied up. Now is a good moment to run off this place." "CF" Nelaus announced.

"Okay! Let's…!" Netto began saying.

"GUO~H!" Something roared.

Everyone looked around but they didn't see anything out of place.

"Maybe it's one of the Navis. Let's…!" "CF" Nelaus began saying, only to be cut off.

"Ah! Look there!" Netto gasped.

They all looked to the right and spotted an air conditioner duct: its cover had come off and a sluggish black mass was coming out: it didn't make any odor, oddly enough.

"What the hell is that?" Saito asked to no – one in particular.

"Hell if I know." Netto fumed.

The mass suddenly seemed to concentrate on one spot and began to take on a new shape.

This new "form" had two arms and legs and its body had spheroid-like shape to it.

The "form" contained one red eye in the front with some green line patterns spreading from atop it and around its sides.

The thing seemed to be almost two meters tall.

"Bwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! How's that, ye deserter lads? Do ye like our pet, the _Shadow Devil_?" Buccaneer Man's voice came in through some speakers.

"What? Isn't he fighting Enzan and Laika?" "CF" Nelaus wondered.

"Aha-hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Why do ya think we have such a big hangar, ye deserter lads?" Buccaneer Man laughed.

"Oh! No! He deployed the_ Despair_ and must be keeping them busy with his pirate crew!" "CF" Nelaus gasped.

The door of the storeroom was blown open and Buccaneer Man stepped in carrying a whip on his right hand.

"Ye still have pending yer punishment: ye deserter mice! I'll make sure to then feed ya mice to the sharks of the Red Sea!" He exclaimed.

"Shadow Blade!"

Several quick attacks hit Buccaneer Man from behind, catching him off-guard: "CF" Nelaus didn't hesitate and joined the fray by drawing a Flame Sword.

"Flame Sword!"

The Flame Sword burnt the whip to cinders and left a shallow cut on Buccaneer's Man torso.

"Uack! Who goes there…?" Buccaneer Man cursed.

"You were missing me." "CF" Miyabi announced.

"Nelaus! Would you mind coming here?" Netto called out with a hint of sarcasm.

"CF" Nelaus gasped and turned around to see the Shadow Devil cornering Netto and Saito.

"Damn! Battle Chip, Area Steal!"

"CF" Nelaus warped in front of the Shadow Devil and slashed its right shoulder, tearing off the right arm.

"Run!" "CF" Nelaus told them.

Both Netto and Saito ran across the room taking profit that "CF" Miyabi had drawn Buccaneer Man out of it: the torn arm suddenly dissolved into the same black sluggish mass and quickly travelled across the ground towards the destroyed opening: it formed a new wall and blocked off the exit.

"Damn! Let's try the air conditioner duct, then!" Saito cursed.

As if it could hear them, part of the same mass jumped off and sealed the duct as well.

"We're closed inside! Guess we have no choice… Let's call for Rock Man so that I can Cross Fusion. You take cover." Netto told Saito.

_Ah! You're speaking of me as if I was another person to confuse them in case that thing's transmitting in live._

_Yeah. Let's hurry._

Both of them hid behind a pile of crates: Saito transferred out of his cyborg body and entered his Link PET.

"OK. Let's go! Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

Netto and Saito performed "Cross Fusion" flawlessly and "CF" Netto appeared on the spot.

"Soul Unison: Omega Soul!"

"CF" Netto triggered the "Soul Unison" and drew both weapons.

"I guess that the red eye is the weak point… Nelaus! Try to keep it busy!"

"O. K.!"

The black mass detached from the door and air duct to rejoin the Shadow Devil and regenerate its right arm: it began to shoot out a continuous laser beam from its eye into the ground while leaving burnt marks on it: neither of them paid heed.

"Battle Chip, Mega Cannon! Slot In!"

"CF" Nelaus shot at the Shadow Devil's right leg, damaging it and causing it to lose balance: "CF" Netto jumped over its back and plunged his left hand into the "head": the hand quickly sunk inside of the mass and "CF" Netto used this as a support point as he jumped down and impaled his O – Saber into the eye before he jumped off it.

"There it goes!"

The result was immediate: the eye frizzled and the whole mass fell apart: a small metallic spheroid with many sensors over its outer surface was revealed: the eye closed and the spheroid suddenly blew up.

"Whoa!"

The mass evaporated and disappeared: a series of minuscule pools of acid formed all over the ground, eventually growing into a large one which soon evaporated.

"We managed to take it down… Just _what_ was that thing?" "CF" Nelaus wondered.

"I think I know." "CF" Netto announced as he looked at his left forearm's armor, which had been corroded by the acids.

"You do?" "CF" Nelaus asked.

"That mass was being generated by an army of nanomachines. The spheroid was the control core which coordinated them. Upon being destroyed, the nanomachines triggered an emergency order. They emitted a special kind of acid contained inside of them and self-destructed to avoid being left behind as evidence. Basically: as long as the core is active, it can transform into any form it wishes as long as it has enough mass to do so." Rock Man reported.

"Somehow… I don't think that the FOD came up with this bloody thing, you see. Someone must've lent it to them for field testing, I'd rather say."

"Raise the red pavilion! This is going to be a fight to the death! We're gonna make our last glorious stand 'ere!"

"HUH?"

"Thanks to our efforts, P. W. shall be completed and our masters shall rule it all! Let's go, lads!" Buccaneer Man's voice announced over the speakers.

"Oi! They want to fight to the death? And what the heck is "P. W."? Didn't they mean this thing?" "CF" Netto wondered.

"I'd say we stay put in case any of them drops by… We need to shield Saito." "CF" Nelaus told him.

"Okay." "CF" Netto agreed.

"… Death Gauntlets!"

"Today ain't my day to die."

Jet Joker was facing "CF" Lander.

The "Cross Fusion" form retained most of Lander's normal form.

Differences included a coat of arms – like pattern on the helmet's forehead: Martin's hair came out from behind the helmet.

The shoulders remained anatomically correct and had brown leather armor over them.

His arms and elbows had switched to a turquoise color: the forearms (colored dust brown) had some black crisscrossing patterns drawn into them and which looked thicker than Lander's: they glowed with a soft blue glow as well from time to time.

His main body also gained the Alphabet letters "M" and "B" colored red and black each and set left and right beneath the shoulders.

A set of three parallel green lines descended from beneath each letter and then joined into a thick one which ended on a waist belt having two pouches for the Colts.

The legs contained two circling orange bands set above and below the knee which had metallic gray dots drawn at random inside of them.

The boots were white: they had a faint white color like they'd worn out from time.

He sported a cowboy – like hat colored brown and white over his head as well.

Jet Joker had currently accumulated energy on his gauntlets and was using his jets to shoot towards "CF" Lander at top speed.

"Battle Chip, Tank Cannon, Area Steal! Double Slot In!"

"CF" Lander warped out of harm's way while Jet Joker blew out the whole patch of ground with his gauntlet's energy.

"Tank Cannon!"

The shot hit Jet Joker right on the back: "CF" Lander allowed the recoil to push him back before he drew both Colts.

"How's that one like?" He challenged.

"Huh… Critical damage… There's no other way around… For the sake of my masters… I must take you lowlife down with me! HROA~H!"

Jet Joker began to glow and jumped towards "CF" Lander, tackling him into the pool of water caused by the _Despair_'s apparition.

"DIE!"

Jet Joker blew up in a brutal explosion which heated up the waters and brutally shook the _Despair_ around despite it being anchored: a plume of water shot towards the ceiling as well.

"MARTIN!" "CF" Charles exclaimed with angst.

"Lander!"

"CF" Charles' design included red boots and forearms along with brown chest armor which had a golden cross set on the middle of it: matrixes of on/off squares colored green and blue spread across his forearms and legs.

His helmet's forehead had a blue hexagon-shaped jewel set on its center which was glowing with a pale sapphire glow while his eyes' irises were blue: a mouth-guard having an outer golden edge and a main silver body formed over his mouth.

A backpack with two exhaust tubes colored silver and golden materialized and attached to his back while extending four red lines arching over his body and creating a bluish ring around the chest emblem with four small black rectangles having a red dot on their center.

He had some extra armor coiling around his right arm too and he wielded a saber identical to Omega's but colored blue instead.

"You're mine!" Agile Ace announced.

"You…!"

"CF" Lander suddenly emerged from the water using his jets and looked rather damaged: he managed to reach the shore and land but his "Cross Fusion" wore off and he fell into the ground, out cold.

"Martin!" Lander gasped.

"Royal Straight!"

Agile Ace summoned the five cards and shot them at "CF" Charles: he dodged the cards and somersaulted into the air several times.

"Program Advance!"

"Program Advance!"

"Justice Sword, Triple Slot In!"

"Golden… Blade~!"

"That's your strongest move, then? Hmpf! I'm gonna take you down so easily! DIE!"

Agile Ace began to shine with a white light: he drew two Long Swords which turned purple and had a creepy look to them.

"My Poison Swords are going to poison you!"

He jumped towards "CF" Charles, thinking of hitting him before he could finish forming the Program Advance: "CF" Charles reacted faster and shot out an attack similar to a Dream Sword Program Advance colored golden: it intercepted Agile Ace and made him crash into the _Despair_'s deck.

"Why, you…!"

He jumped out of the deck and towards "CF" Charles again, trying to catch him while he was recovering from the Program Advance usage.

"This shall be for the glory of our makers!"

"CF" Charles saw him coming, so he drew a golden-colored Mega Cannon Battle Chip.

"Eat Justice Cannon!"

He shot, but Agile Ace dodged at the last moment and tackled "CF" Charles into the ground.

"Farewell!"

He blew up in a brutal blast, propelling "CF" Charles across the wide hangar room and making him crash with violence against the far wall. He slid off it and into the ground, his "Cross Fusion" falling apart from the attained damage: he lost consciousness.

"Charles!" Davis gasped.

"… Come on, reddie! Confess! _Where_'s Rock Man at?"

Hidden Heart was exchanging sword blows with "CF" Blues, each one blocking the other.

"And why should I tell you?" "CF" Blues shot back.

"My Mistress would like to teach him some lessons about the power of us women." Hidden Heart smirked.

"Need Not to Know." "CF" Blues smirked under the mouth guard.

"Why, you…!" Hidden Heart cursed.

"He's at the storeroom. But ya should focus on taking that lad down firstly." Buccaneer Man announced: he'd suddenly appeared atop the lookout's spot in the ship.

"Huh? Wasn't Miyabi dealing with you?" "CF" Laika wondered.

"Hah! I gave 'im a lesson!" Buccaneer Man proclaimed.

"Damn. Guess I'll have to deal with him." "CF" Laika cursed.

"Try it, lad! Come forth! Leviathan!"

A gigantic sea serpent emerged from the pool: its body was colored purple and it had two large yellow eyes with black pupils and its mouth contained several large menacing silverfish fangs.

"Crap. I spoke too much." "CF" Laika cursed again.

"While ye deal with Leviathan… I'll go get the lads! See ya around: foolish colonial era soldier!"

Buccaneer Man warped out of the spot while the Leviathan rammed into "CF" Laika, knocking him off the ship and into the pool.

"Laika!" "CF" Blues gasped.

"Heart Bang!"

Hidden Heart drew a bomb with the "heart" drawing on it: she tossed it at "CF" Blues' feet and he was sent flying.

"Jet Vernier!"

"CF" Blues managed to maneuver and land down in the command bridge: Hidden Heart jumped towards him with her blades drawn out.

"Hah, hah, hah! Die~!"

When she was about to made contact, though, a _chibi_ doll of "CF" Blues appeared on his place: she hit the doll and a rain of_ shuriken_ hit her back.

"Yeagh! That's a _kawarimi_ technique!" She groaned.

"You won't take me down so easily!" "CF" Blues proclaimed.

"Gra~h!"

"CF" Laika was kicked out of the water and shot past the deck and into the concrete ground: he hit it with his back and his "Cross Fusion" fell apart from the attained damage.

"Laika couldn't deal with that thing!" "CF" Blues gasped.

The Leviathan's tail suddenly shot out of the water and coiled around "CF" Blues, dragging him into the pool as well.

"Hah! Enjoy toying with Boss' pet. I need to deal with Rock Man myself using my S&M sadism arts." Hidden Heart muttered with a smug smile on her face and sounding eager.

"… Rain of Clubs!"

"Heh! You're fired!"

Sigma swung his sword around, easily blocking all the wooden clubs Cunning Club had been throwing at him: he ran forward and smacked Cunning Club on the face, pushing him back.

"Why, you savage…!" Cunning Club cursed.

"Sorry! All's fair in battle!" Sigma laughed.

"Then, I shall take you with me to the foul pit of the Reverse Cyber World!"

Cunning Club's body began to shine with the characteristic white light: he ran forward and plunged his hands around Sigma's torso to hold in there despite Sigma's attempts to shake him off.

"Be gone!"

Cunning Club detonated at close-quarters: the explosion pushed Sigma back some meters until he collided with one concrete wall: a large patch of his armor had been blown out, further exposing his red core.

"Mugkuah!"

However, his armor soon began to rebuild at a quick rate: after a few seconds it almost looked like he hadn't attained damage at all except for some scratches, cuts and burns.

"Phew… That was close… Man! Who the hell programmed them to blow up? They're imitating Atomic Network… What's "P. W.", anyway?"

"… Rain of Spades!"

"Battle Card, Barrier 200!"

Blood Shadow deployed a yellowish aura around his body to deflect the spades Sharp Spade had been throwing at him.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The attack, which was shot at close-quarters distance, sent Sharp Spade flying: he got stuck in the main sail tower of the _Despair_.

"Why, you…!"

He groaned and managed to break free, panting: Blood Shadow jumped into the deck and faced him.

"Get ready to be fired, cheap filibuster!"

"You're the one who's gonna get fired…!" Sharp Spade shot back.

He began to shine with the ominous white aura and to build up energy while he transformed both hands into large cannons.

"Double Death Cannons!"

The two blasts hit Blood Shadow's Barrier 200 and broke it: he jumped off the deck, but Sharp Spade caught up with him using an Area Steal Battle Chip, making Blood Shadow gasp.

"Double Death Cannons!"

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The two attacks met head-on and destroyed each other and the explosion pushed both combatants in opposite directions: Blood Shadow was pushed towards the right while Sharp Spade towards the left.

"Huh!"

"Heck!"

Both of them hit the concrete ground and looked rather worn out: Sharp Spade warped again and appeared in front of Blood Shadow.

"This is the end! Double….!"

"Sword Fighter X!"

Blood Shadow's left forearm gained a red curved blade the edge of which was filled with teeth-like triangles: he quickly performed six cuts to cut both cannons in three pieces: the attack which had been loading became unstable and exploded, separating both combatants again.

"DIE!"

Sharp Spade had recovered faster than expected and was jumping towards Blood Shadow again.

"I only have one choice left… Come closer…"

Once Sharp Spade was only a few centimeters away from him, Blood Shadow aimed his double-barreled shotgun and shot.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

The attack cleaved through Sharp Spade's body, making him open his mouth open in surprise: his energy flew out of control and he blew up in a brutal explosion thus propelling Blood Shadow towards the water.

"Gurah!"

Blood Shadow managed to swim out and reach the shore while his body was being repaired.

"Phew… Another one down…"

The Leviathan's tail suddenly shot out of the water again and propelled a clearly beaten-up "CF" Blues out of it and into the wall.

"Damn. It looks like that thing needs to be taught a lesson…!"

"I'll join you!" Sigma announced.

"… Diamond Gun!"

"That's not an option."

"Che!"

Omega was confronting Diamond Duchess: she had tried shooting several diamonds from a machinegun on her right forearm, but Omega had effortlessly blocked all of them with his O – Saber.

"BURN!" Omega grinned.

He took out the O – Buster and shot a sphere of plasma which hit Diamond Duchess and caused some burn marks to show up on her body.

"Why, you plebeian…!" She hissed.

"I knew it." Omega shrugged.

"You shall perish!"

Diamond Duchess began to glow with the familiar white aura: she drew two blades made up of diamond and dashed towards Omega.

"Hmpf."

Omega was able to block one, but the second one left a deep cut on his lower right area of the torso: he made a grimace.

"Hah, hah, hah! How does that feel like, plebeian?" She laughed.

"Grrr…"

Omega suddenly grabbed her right arm and pushed her out of his body at a mad speed: he began to spin her around and threw her towards the _Despair. _

"Kya~h!"

She entered through one open cannon hatch and hit the cannon parked directly behind her.

"Yikes! Bah! That should stop him for…!"

Her sentence was cut short when Omega jumped inside: his wound was nowhere to be seen and his eyes now shone with a menacing red light: a purple "aura" was surrounding him as well.

"W-what? Did he use a Dark Chip, then? No! That's impossible…!"

"Ones who dare to heavily wound me regret it on the afterlife… I have removed my limiters… Now you shall meet my true power!" Omega announced with a hint of fury.

"L-limiters! He was fighting with limiters on all this time!" She uttered with obvious fear on her voice.

"Not only me. Blood and Sigma use them as well. A true warrior only fights with the best of his strength when his life is at stake. Now… Prepare to be _slaughtered_!" Omega made a malicious-looking grin.

While Blood Shadow and Sigma were trying to penetrate the Leviathan's thick skin, a terrific shriek came out from the _Despair_ accompanied by furious roars and hisses along with other sounds.

"Uh-oh. Commander Omega is performing his _slaughter_ on that gal. It'd seem he got pissed off." Blood Shadow gulped.

"We better have something good to tell him when he finishes or else he'll downgrade us… Let's try taking out our limiters or else we won't get anywhere." Sigma gulped as well.

There was the sound of something falling into the water followed by an explosion and a plume of water shooting skywards.

"Sigma! Hit his eyes and try to make it open its mouth! I'm gonna go for the "boom" strategy!" Blood Shadow told him.

"OK! Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Boom and kaboom morning is waiting for us today! Roger!"

Sigma punched the Leviathan's left eye thus making it hiss in fury: Blood Shadow took the opportunity to shoot a string of Count Bomb Battle Chips inside of its belly.

"Let's scram!"

Both of them jumped into the shore as the bombs immediately detonated, blowing it out from the inside.

"Mugrkua~h!"

It screamed and tried to reach towards the two combatants: they both jumped away and landed on top of its head again.

"Take sword!"

"Charged shotgun shot!"

While Sigma plunged his sword into the monster's head, Blood Shadow placed the barrel on it and shot: the blast cleaved through the whole jaw, effectively killing it.

"We did it!"

A large portion of its body hit the concrete ground and left a noticeable dent on it: the thing was deleted.

"Good job, you two."

Both warriors turned around to see Omega leaning against a wall and toying with his turned off O – Saber by throwing up and catching it as it fell.

"Ah! Thank you very much, Commander Omega!" Both saluted.

"Yea~rgh!"

"CF" Nelaus was shot through the hangar's opening and crashed into another of the _Despair_'s towers, getting stuck there: he slipped down into the deck and his "Cross Fusion" fell apart.

"Don't feel relaxed yet, you two! We've still got a head honcho to take down." Omega commanded as he turned on his O – Saber again.

Buccaneer Man ran into the room: he only had a few cuts, scratches and burns and looked in top shape.

"There ye are, lads! Ye did manage to take down good ol' Levi, but ye're gonna have a lot more trouble with me! Furious Storm!"

Clouds formed inside of the hangar and began to discharge rain and thunders: the water rocked and moved the ship around.

"What in the…?"

"This is my _Field Power Bonus_! While the storm is on, I can regenerate my wounds! A true sea lion always sails through the fiercest of storms, just that ye lads know it!" Buccaneer Man proclaimed.

"… Whip of Thorns!"

"Hell's Burner!"

"CF" Netto had ended up facing Hidden Heart inside of the storeroom he'd been hiding at: "CF" Nelaus had come out a while ago and had seemingly stumbled upon Buccaneer Man and tried to fight him with no good result: Hidden Heart had come in right afterwards and was trying to use the same tricks as last time: the Hell's Burner, however, burnt her infamous whip to cinders: "CF" Netto sighed in relief.

"Why, you…! It's pointless to resist, Rock Man! You soon shall be my slave!"

"It's not like I'm gonna let you use all that S&M stuff on your room on him, you psycho!" "CF" Netto shot back.

"Wha~t? You entered my room? You don't have any manners, you damned fool! It's totally rude for a man to snoop into a lady's room without permission!" Hidden Heart told him.

"I don't care for this silly stuff! I'm gonna take you down here and now: you sick sadist who tries to imitate Anaya Maria and programmed by that Twilight MORON!" "CF" Netto countered.

"So be it! Heart Bang!"

Hidden Heart took out two bombs marked with her symbol and threw them towards "CF" Netto: he quickly moved around and kicked both of them back at Hidden Heart, who barely dodged in time: the bombs hit the northern wall and left two dents on them.

"Huh! When did you turn so good at kicking bombs back at their source, huh?" Hidden Heart made a grimace.

"That's simple! They're like soccer balls. Soccer balls needed to be kicked back!" "CF" Netto smirked under the mouth guard.

"I shall teach you some lessons! Rings of Heart!"

Three red-colored wide rings appeared and floated in front of Hidden Heart: they shot in different directions and circled around the room, making a humming sound.

_Heh, heh, heh… Good, my Mistress, teach them a lesson… In case you guys are wondering… That pool-like thing works like this… The guy is strapped into the table and then continuously shot pressurized hot water jets to stimulate them… The nipples things attach to them and spin around brushing against the skin making you feel like never before… The two vibrators get inside your ass and spin clockwise and anti-clockwise before switching… And the urethra thing spins inside of it: weak ones would go mad from all those sensations but for a guy like me it was rather… How should I put it? Refreshing! Stimulating! Exciting! _

"Battle Chip, Area Steal!"

"CF" Netto warped out of the spot he'd been at just as three rings opened and closed around the spot: he appeared behind Hidden Heart.

"Elemental Cyclone!"

"CF" Netto started to spin around his own axis to create a gigantic cyclone which was made up of several green leaves: he quickly spun forward and hit Hidden Heart several times in a row before moving forward again and landing on the ground.

"How was that?" "CF" Netto smirked.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Hidden Heat smirked.

The three rings suddenly closed around "CF" Netto's shoulders, torso and knees: he lost balance and fell face-down into the ground.

_Hah. You fool. Don't neglect programs flying around!_

"Ack! I thought I'd destroyed them!" "CF" Netto cursed.

"Now you're mine…" Hidden Heart sounded sinister now.

"Not yet! Battle Chip, Salamander!"

"CF" Netto was surrounded by fire and he melted down the infamous rings: the fire around him gained a dragon-like shape and he dived past Hidden Heart, filling her with flames.

"Aie~h!"

When the flames died down, Hidden Heart was filled with burns, cuts and scratches: her face had been blackened as well.

"You ruined my precious face! You shall regret this!" She hissed.

"Come on: you just wore make-up to hide it." Rock Man told her.

"Shut up, Rock Man! I didn't give you permission to speak, you idiot! Shut the trap up!" Hidden Heart snapped.

"Sorry. But I only follow orders from the Net Police. And I'm not an idiot, either." Rock Man shot back.

"I shall separate you from your host and take you to my secret hideout: no – one shall interfere!" She announced.

"I don't think your Boss will allow it. The red pavilion is up. We're supposed to fight to the death." "CF" Netto pointed out.

"Crap!" She hissed.

"Program Advance!"

"Program Advance!"

"Mega Cannon, Triple Slot In!"

"Giga Cannon!"

"CF" Netto shot the brutal blast of energy forward: Hidden Heart smirked and skidded across the ground, barely dodging the beam: she passed through "CF" Netto's open legs and delivered a kick to his sack.

"UOH!"

"CF" Netto opened his eyes wide and collapsed into the ground from the pain.

"I-I'd never though this could happen out of the movies…"

"Netto – kun! Stand up! She's coming!" Rock Man told him.

"Whip of Thorns!"

Hidden Heart drew the infamous whip again and now looked psychotic, having a broad grin on her face and her eyes shone with total evil lust on them.

"I shall teach you pain beyond your understanding!"

"Battle Chip, Yoyo!"

"CF" Netto had managed to turn around and shoot out a Yoyo: it hit Hidden Heart's nose and forced her to recoil.

_Still struggling in vain, Netto Hikari? Ops. Wrong. Japanese names go family name first… Hikari Netto. That's it. You and Rock Man will soon become good stuff… Heh, heh, heh…_

"Je-Jet Vernier!"

"CF" Netto used the propulsion from the jets to float away and managed to stand up in vertical position.

"Program Advance!"

"Program Advance!"

"Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In!"

"Dream Sword!"

The brutal attack left a crevice on the ground as it moved forward and hit Hidden Heart fully, causing a brutal explosion.

"Did that do it?" "CF" Netto wondered.

"Netto – kun! Dodge!"

"CF" Netto did so and barely dodged the infamous whip: he spotted Hidden Heart, who still had several wounds on her, but didn't seem to be tired at all.

"Damn! Does she never tire?" "CF" Netto cursed.

"Heh… heh, heh, heh… Bwah, hah, hah! You're mine, you slave! Bow to my will, foolish man!" Hidden Heart laughed like a psycho.

_I think she's gotten hysterical…_

"We have one trick left… Black End Galaxy!"

A black sphere of energy formed on "CF" Netto's hands: he tossed it behind Hidden Heart and it expanded into a vortex which began to suck everything around it.

"What?"

"CF" Netto drew a Neo Variable Sword and dashed forward, hitting Hidden Heart and dashing past the rift: it collapsed in a brutal explosion which swept a large patch of the ground.

_W-what the HECK WAS THAT? Mistress!_

When it cleared, Hidden Heart was almost deleted: almost all of her body was leaking data and was barely holding itself together.

"T-this can't be… Mistress… I failed thou… Please forgive me~!"

Bursts of white light came out of her chest emblem and provoked a brutal explosion which wrecked all boxes and scattered their contents around: "CF" Netto managed to shield just in time.

"Uack!"

When the explosion dissipated, the only thing to be seen was Saito inert body half-buried beneath a pile of external hard drive units.

"We finally did it! It was a very hard battle…! But we did it, nevertheless!"

"Yeah. At least I managed to escape that sadist's clutches."

Netto's "Cross Fusion" gave way because of the accumulated damage, but he managed to plug Saito into his body before sitting on the ground.

"We'll have to wait to see if the guys can take down Buccaneer Man…"

12:24 PM (Japan Time)…

"… W-what the heck are ye grunts…? I, the supreme buccaneer of the seven seas… Can't stand up to ye grunts…? It can't be…"

The situation wasn't faring well for Buccaneer Man: even with his "Field Power Bonus", the power of the _Three Musketeers_ at its maximum was something to fear.

"We are the _Three Musketeers_. We are the Subspace. Our only goal is to ensure stability by removing menaces to Network Society. You fall into that category. You've pushed us to the limit and now we're unleashing everything we have on you lowlife." Omega announced.

"Grah! T'is ain't gonna end like t'is… Computer! If my signature disappears… Finish recording and send out the whole data! Then perform a sweep of the whole hard drives!" Buccaneer Man called out.

"Roger." The automated computer voice replied.

"Blood. Do the honors." Omega instructed.

"Red Gaia Eraser!"

Blood Shadow formed two black disks with a central yellowish core which floated in air and assumed inclined positions: they began to shoot out continuous beams of red energy which swept the deck of the _Despair_ in pendulum-like patterns while setting it on fire.

"Eat this!"

Blood Shadow charged up energy and shot a brutally wide beam of red energy forward: a brutal dome-shaped explosion swept the whole area, effectively breaking the _Despair_ into two and deleting the whole of its shape.

"This must have done it."

When the explosion cleared, they could see that Buccaneer Man was still alive, but about to die from the incredibly high rate of damage.

"Che. Die-hard jerk."

"I-I accomplished my duty… The data will be sent out… My makers will be able to finish P. W… Once they do… The world… shall be theirs… T'is… is only a temporary victory…! Farewell, lads! See you in Nifleheim!"

With a broken psychotic laughter, the last of Buccaneer Man was deleted and the storm ceased.

"Let's check on the others." Omega ordered.

They all checked on the other knocked out "Net Saviors", who were beginning to wake up.

"Is it over…?" Martin asked.

"Yeah. It's over." Omega confirmed.

"What a monster…!" Enzan cursed.

"I totally agree…!"

"Hey, relax. It's gone." Blood Shadow smiled at them.

"Ugh… What a blow…" Nelaus groaned.

"You needn't tell me…"

"At last, the battle's over…"

"Ugh… Weren't you forgetting me…?" Dark Miyabi asked while walking in at an erratic pace.

"And don't forget us, either!" Netto added while looking rather beaten up.

"Yeah. You better don't." Saito smirked.

"Data transmission is complete: currently initiating hard drive cleansing according to last given orders. Estimate time to completion: one minute ten seconds." The automated voice announced.

All of the lights went out and were replaced by red emergency lights while the armored lock doors sealed up and a loud alarm began to echo around.

"Damn! Blood, Sigma! Come with me! We need to savage whatever we can from the supercomputer!" Omega hissed.

The three of them ran out, blowing up the doors: they encountered thick security shutters on their path, further hindering their efforts.

"The estimated time to completion is: thirty seconds."

"Shit! We won't make it on time at all with this stuff on the way!"

"Break through the walls!"

They began to advance quicker: some parts of the ground had opened to reveal deep pits: they had to jump over them and circumvent them.

"Estimate time to completion: ten seconds."

"We're almost there!" Omega encouraged.

"Nine. Eight. Seven."

The group of three blew up the last door and reached the central computer room: they all ran towards the console.

"Six. Five. Four."

"Damn! Where's the "CANCEL" option?" Omega cursed while looking at the screen.

"Three. Two. One."

"There isn't!" Blood Shadow realized.

"Zero. Hard drive cleansing is complete. No further data is currently available." The auto-voice announced.

"Damn! It was set to be impossible to cancel!" Sigma cursed.

"Correct…" A voice told them.

The leader walked up the stairs to them.

"You must be Jacques Taufex." Omega assumed.

"That's correct. It's over. I knew it would come to this… And I'm partly glad of it…" The man let out a deep sigh.

"No wonder. You were a scapegoat."

"… Correct… I'll confess everything… But I want to do it on front of the Net Police. I surrender." Jacques Taufex announced.

"Then accompany us."

"I understand."

They undid the path easily because the defenses had been disabled upon the computer's erasure and reached the hangar: some ambulances and Net Police cars were present.

"… What?" Commissioner Kifune seemed to be surprised by something the Net Saviors were telling him.

"You didn't organize the meeting on that warehouse?" Miyabi was asking of him.

"No! I called for no meeting!"

"He's correct. It was a setup. Club and Diamond played the roles in a perfect manner." Tafeux admitted.

"Then, the insider Club was talking about…" Nelaus realized.

"There's never been such an insider. It was a pretext to justify that "meeting" in the warehouse above this hangar."

"Jacques Taufex. Are you giving yourself in?" Commissioner Kifune assumed.

"That's correct. I will explain everything."

"Do we handcuff him?" One policeman asked.

"No. There's no need for it. Something tells me this man has been a scapegoat all along." Commissioner Kifune told them.

"You can call off the ambulances… Nobody got anything broken, luckily enough." Charles told them.

"Let's go the Net Police HQ and calmly discuss this there."

"Roger."

12:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… All is ready. You can start speaking, Mr. Taufex."

Jacques Taufex was sitting inside of a meeting room inside of the Net Police HQ where Commissioner Kifune and Superintendent Manabe were present along with Detective Misaki: a recorder had been brought in and had been turned on.

"… I originally was no more than a mere businessman in Toulouse. I admit that in the eighties, I enrolled in the French Communist Party but quit after the fall of the Soviet Union. I continued exercising my business, paid my taxes and didn't experience anything weird. However, about two months ago, all changed." Taufex began explaining.

"Please continue." Kifune requested.

"I was approached via the phone by someone plainly named "Hans". He had a thick German accent and sounded like he was but a representative for powerful people. He told me he needed me to take part into a little experiment and that it was not advisable for me to refuse. Seeing no other option, I accepted with the initial idea of finding out who was behind it and reporting it to the local police. I was told to fly to St. Petersburg where I met Buccaneer Man. He told me all he knew was the fact that I was supposed to be their leader."

"Hum! Please keep up. We want to try to deduce at which point Twilight stepped into the picture…"

"They moved around and did some murders of former FOD members as well as some sabotage and extortion. Apparently… _Someone else_ was telling them to do so. I only was staying put in St. Petersburg, overseeing the construction of our underground base by some automated robots. Recently ago, Buccaneer Man told me we were supposed to move into Japan to the new base and start collecting data on all kind of Net Savior Net Navis. This data was to be sent out to someone whom they only referenced as "our makers"."

"They never said any specific names, then?"

"That's correct. I knew all along that I was being a scapegoat, but that man, Hans, kept on calling me to remind me I couldn't quit in the middle of it no matter what happened. I would only be able to do so if everything ended. All of them were programmed to self-destruct to prevent any data remnants of them being analyzed. And this is exactly what has happened in the end."

"Did you never try to find out any more information about to whom the data was being sent out?" Kifune asked.

"I obviously tried. There was never any copy of it on the supercomputer. The only copy was sent out via an AT & T satellite to somewhere in Southern Sharo Nation, close to the Cream Land border. I couldn't track it further since it looked like it was stored into another computer and then physically transported elsewhere."

"Taking into account that all of your acts were decided by someone else and you are just a scapegoat they picked, you cannot be blamed of anything. You were under extortion. Therefore, we will allow you to return to your country and warn the local police to watch out just in case."

"I am very grateful to you, Commissioner." Taufex bowed.

"Do not worry, Mr. Taufex. We will find out who are the ones behind this."

"Thank you very much."

Kifune escorted him out while Misaki sat on a chair and looked thoughtful at what he'd told them.

"Sounds like it wasn't just Twilight… Maybe the scheme had been drawn by someone else and then they invited Twilight to take part… Anaya Maria must know something. We should question her." He suggested to Superintendent Manabe.

"But she'll likely taunt us back and say nothing and we can't force her to since she's responsibility of the State of Louisiana…"

"Who could be so interested in Net Savior battle data? And a lot of money would be needed here… Who's the sponsor?" Prism Man wondered.

07:17 AM (Germany Time)…

"… _Herr Präsident_. I am back."

"How did it go like, Hans?"

A tall man on his fifties entered a gallantly decorated living room and gallantly bowed as he faced an armchair giving him the back.

The man had some patches of gray hair and was cleanly shaven.

He wore butler's attire.

"The Filibusters of Death have been decimated. However, they completed a very extensive database. The head of the R&D lab, Mr. G., has commented that it will help improve "P. W." vastly." The butler, Hans, announced.

"Excellent. Our contractors will be very satisfied. They inverted a lot on it and they got good results." The man in the armchair sounded in a good mood.

"Indeed, _Herr Präsident_. It is obvious. What should be done about _Herr_ Taufex?" Hans inquired.

"Leave him alone. The police will protect him. Besides, he never found out anything important. And they knew he was a scapegoat ever since _Herr_ Twilight got involved into the project." The man made a dismissing gesture with his right hand.

"I understand. Does _Herr Präsident_ need anything else to be done for today?" Hans asked.

"That shall be all. You are dismissed." The man told him.

Hans bowed again and stepped back, closing two elegant oak doors: the only light in the room came from the morning sun coming through the curtained rooms.

"Heh, heh, heh…"

The man in the armchair reached out for a cell phone and dialed.

"Hello? _Herr_ General? The FOD did a splendid job. We have more than enough data by now." The man in the armchair told someone at the other end of the line.

"Excellent, _Herr Präsident._ We also deployed the prototype Shadow Devil to gain some field test data. It performed excellently." The other man, the "General", replied.

"I shall speak with the head of my company's R & D lab to gain an estimate of how much time we need to fully complete "P. W.", but I think it shall not be too long." The first man, the "President", announced.

"Excellent. We shall speak again, _Herr Präsident_. Good afternoon."

"_Auf Wiedersehen_."

The man in the armchair returned the cell phone to its original spot.

"Ladies and Gentlemen: Act III is about to begin. Please return to your assigned seats and switch off your cell phones. We do hope you enjoy tonight's play." The man announced as if he was the announcer of an opera house.

He dialed another number and waited.

"_Herr _G."

"_Herr Präsident_. The data has arrived. As scheduled. Nothing was left behind… Not even a single bit…"

"Excellent, my good sir… Have you told _Herr_ Twilight?"

"I did, sir. He's in a very good mood… We will be in contact to discuss the details of "P. W.", sir."

"Fair enough, _Herr_ G… Go ahead and start working on the interfaces: the sooner we have some solid prototypes the better the mood our clients will have… The data upload can come later…"

"Roger. Count of me, sir."

"Good… Heh, heh, heh… Act III is about to begin, yes… Soon…"

07:29 AM (Germany Time)…

"… Heh, heh, heh… The FOD did a very good job indeed. Thanks to this data, no Net Navi and no Net Savior shall be able to stand up to the might of the fruits generated from P. W. I can assure it."

An unidentified man wearing a white lab coat was looking at a computer's screen and chuckling upon seeing some video footage accompanied by notes and signs.

"Victory shall be ours!" The unidentified man proclaimed.

"_Herr_ G! Sir! Do we start working on the interfaces?" Someone asked via an interphone system.

"Start. _Herr Präsident_ wishes to have something material to show our contractors so as to convince them that their investment is totally worth it." The man, G, commanded.

"Roger!"

The man dialed a number on a phone and waited.

"_Herr_ Twilight. We've begun work on the interfaces. Expect a preliminary report next week."

"Excellent… IQ – sama is very amused… She pulled some strings and we'll cause some turmoil plus arrange for cul-de-sac spots to stall for time: when would the main test be?" Twilight replied.

"Hmmm… Maybe by next month... We can't be totally sure as of yet."

"Alright. I'll work on stirring chaos and terror amongst them…"

"And I'll spread boiling coffee and frozen _curry_! Mwah, hah, hah!"

"Cloud Man! You IMBECILE!"

"Uo~h! I apologize, Twilight – sama! I am sorry, sir!"

"Anyway! We'll be in contact, Mr. G. Greetings from IQ – sama."

"Delighted. Soon… "P. W." shall become reality! Hah, hah, hah!"


	13. Chapter 13: Conclusion

**Chapter 13: Conclusion**

08:49 AM (Japan Time), Monday December the 29th…

"… Heh, heh, heh! De masu! Today is the day!"

"Huff! Yamitarou…"

Higure was rubbing his hands in excitement and looked like he was about to do something.

"Mariko – sensei! This is the ideal time! De masu!" He exclaimed.

"Do you _ever_ look in front of you?" A woman's voice asked.

Higure snapped from his daydream state and from looking at his store's ceiling to see Yuriko standing in front of the counter.

"Ah! A customer is here, de masu! Welcome, de masu! What would you like? De masu?"

"I'd rather like of you to not to pester my big sis." Yuriko told him.

"De masu? Excuse me?" Higure frowned.

"I'm Oozono Yuriko. Mariko is my big sis. And I think you should quit pestering her with your "platonic love". She's busy enough."

"WHA~T? What "platonic love", ma'am? My love for you honorable elder sister is genuine! Masu! I swear it on Kami – sama's name, de masu!"

"… Save that speech for someone of a drama series. This is reality, Mr. Higure. You should realize that." Yuriko told him, unimpressed.

"But! Ma'am! De masu!" Higure protested.

"I'm off. If I catch you bothering my sis when she's working, then I'm going to tell my Navi to redecorate your store's Cyber World with needles."

"Shah, shah, shah! That's right! Heh, heh, heh!" Needle Man laughed.

"Oh! World! Thou are so cruel with me…! De masu! Mariko – sensei~!

"I hope you earn this lesson, Yamitarou." Number Man grumbled.

09:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… _Buenas pesadillas antes de Navidad! Llamo de la peli de "Pesadilla Antes de Navidad"! Está interesado en comprarla?"_

"There goes Vincent again…"

Netto and Saito had been about to leave their home and go play outside when Saito's Link PET rang and Vincent turned out to be the caller.

"He said: "Good nightmares before Christmas! I'm calling from the film _Nightmare before Christmas_! Would you be interested in buying it?"…"

"I've seen it three times already and Christmas was three days ago. Tell him to… I know! Tell him to go meet Ms. Siren at Copenhagen. I wanna see how he reacts." Saito smirked.

"_Oiga! Por qué no le vende una a la Señorita Sirenita de Copenhagen? Se debe sentir muy pero que muy sola por estas fechas! Usted puede hacerle compañía y bailar la samba mejicana con ella!"_ Blood Shadow told Vicent using a heavy Mexican accent.

"_Pues claro que sí, Caballero! Señorita, espéreme, que le voy a enseñar lo magnífico que es mi país! __Hah, hah, hah!"_

Everyone sighed in relief once the call had ended.

"I told 'im: "Hey! Why don't you sell one to Ms. Siren in Copenhagen? She must be feeling very, very lonely around these dates! You could accompany her and dance Mexican _samba_ with her!"…"

"And what did he reply?" Saito asked with eagerness.

"He replied: "But of course, my good Sir! Miss, please wait for me, because I am going to teach you how magnificent my country is!"…"

"This proves it: he's a useless drunkard." Netto smirked.

"Yeah! Ye're right on that!" Sigma grinned.

"Let's go out before anything else interrupts us! We're gonna play snowball war!" Saito grinned.

"Yeah! Snowball War!" Netto added.

They both walked downstairs and picked their coats and winter caps along with their boots.

"We're going out!" Both announced.

"Take care!" Haruka told them.

Both walked out of the house and ran towards the square: Meiru, Dekao, Chisao, Yaito, Hikawa and Nelaus were already there.

"Sorry for the holdup! We got a prank call!" Netto apologized.

"Lemme guess: it was Vincent." Isaac smiled.

"He told us that he actually wanted to sell us an outdated cosmetic "made in Mexico"..." Nelaus told them.

"And what did you tell him?" Yaito asked.

"I told him: "These things are being made in Ameroupe, did you know that?"… To which he replied: "Bloody Ameroupeians! I'm so gonna teach them one or two things!"… He ran off the phone!"

"An outdate cosmetic… Goodness!"

"I totally agree!"

"It would have ruined Yaito – sama's figure." Glyde muttered.

"Maybe we should've frozen the lid so that it couldn't be opened at all!"

"That would've been fun, desu!" Ice Man giggled.

"Guts, guts! We should've punched him, guts! De guts!"

"Yeah! I'd taught the dude how strong I, the great Dekao – sama is!"

"You wouldn't even lift a pebble." Meiru directed a skeptical glance.

Dekao collapsed into his knees: he began banging the ground.

"Why is the world so cruel with me~?" He asked to no – one in particular while crying.

09:27 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah! I had forgotten… Commissioner Kifune. There was another person I was in contact with it…"

"Who was it?"

Jacques Taufex had come to declare some additional information at the Net Police HQ.

"I didn't know the genre, though… This person was named "Oracle" and always spoke to me via the phone using a voice distorter. I tried tracking the calls, but I only got random public phone cabins." Taufex admitted, shrugging.

"Hum! I see. We will have to look into that aspect, then. In the meanwhile… Your plane ticket is ready. You are departing tomorrow evening for the Charles de Gaulle Airport." Kifune told him.

"I understand. I shall call you if I realize something else. Good – bye, Commissioner."

"Good – bye."

Commissioner Kifune escorted Taufex to the entrance and returned to his office.

"_Oracle"… Who could it be? We will have to look thoroughly if we want to find him or her…_

"… Meijin – sama's devout 666 neophytes came~!"

"Stop stalking me, Ondo and company~!"

"Ms. Lucy wants her make-up back with a howl!"

"What NONSENSE is THAT?"

"Ask Uncle Sigma~!"

"Sigma! I knew it: the guy's messing around as usual!"

"Let's go Sigma and Stigma! Heh, heh, heh! Mei – jin – sama~! Uo~h!"

09:31 AM (Japan Time)…

"… It's as you suspect. That scandal which was reported in the news was because the Net Saviors were involved…"

"I knew it!"

Aura was speaking with Ms. Glassy inside of her store.

"And the young man you appreciate was obviously involved… Oh, I can see it! Violent battles… They drove him to the limit of his physical strength… But he recovered afterwards… That man is a box of surprises! You never know, my dear… You might even discover some of them one day, my dear…" Ms. Glassy told her.

"I'm so thrilled now! I must talk it with him. Thank you very much for everything. Ma'am."

"It's nothing, my dear!"

Aura gave her the usual payment and walked off the store, feeling totally excited while Ms. Glass put up her sinister face again.

"The Net Police may search all they want, but they shall not find me. I'll make sure of it."

She picked the phone and dialed a number.

"Mr. G: everything's alright over here. No – one can begin to suspect me to begin with…" She whispered.

"Excellent, ma'am." "G" replied in a polite manner.

"Everything's progressing over there, I take it?"

"Smoothly, ma'am. We hope to have some prototype interfaces ready before January ends at the very sooner."

"Good, good… I'll keep you informed, my fellow conspirer…"

"Delighted."

"Tee, heh, heh, heh… "P. W." will be grand and splendid! Tee, heh, heh!"

09:39 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So… You're saying that the whole FOD stuff was just one slab of a larger chain, then, and it wasn't some show Twilight came up with out of pure boredom?"

"That's how it looks like, Boss."

Omega was talking with Vadous while standing inside of the command bridge: Vadous looked like he was thinking about it.

"P. W... Just what in the world could it be? There are too many things involved… The data being sent to southern Sharo Nation… The German man named Hans… And there are not much people who would be able to program Navis like that. I know Twilight is involved but it'd seem that the main idea was someone else's." Vadous tapped the right armrest of his armchair with his fingers as he thought aloud.

"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing, obviously enough… One of them even had a… hum… "Mistress Complex"..." Omega suddenly seemed to be trying to find a word which wasn't too strong or shocking.

"What? Hey! Do you mean that she…?" Vadous seemed to have guessed something.

"She could be described as a pale imitator of Anaya Maria, even, given her open claims of S&M sadism." Omega admitted.

"By all the…!"

"And she was obsessed over Rock Man… I saw those two slipping off one moment and setting fire to her room. I'm sure that there was stuff no-one else should see… I warned Lartes to keep an eye on their _gizmos_ if there was the need to block out their memory of what they saw in there by accident…" Omega explained.

"If they had the courage to go in again and burn it down, then I think it won't be really necessary. Twilight was surely involved in programming her to begin with… The moron… Always stirring up trouble…" Vadous sighed in relief.

09:42 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Mister Dragon!"

"Oh. Honorable Trill – san. Welcome."

Trill had walked into a kitchen and had met a man there.

They looked about a meter and eighty tall and in their late 30s.

They wore a goldenrod tunic and a brownish bamboo hat plus traditional wood sandals.

His hair was black and ended in a thin string behind his head which had a Chinese-like decoration.

His eyes' irises were brown.

"Trill brought a present to Mister Dragon Hell!" Trill announced while handing out a package.

"Please do wait a moment, Honorable Trill – san. Today is December the 29th. Christmas has already happened and left behind." Dragon Hell replied with a polite speech.

"Trill knew it! But this is something special!"

"Well then, I shall see to it."

Dragon picked the package and began to undo it: Trill had a slight mischievous smile on his face and looked like he was about to carry out some joke or another.

"Oh. It is a nice box."

Dragon Hell held on his hand: it had some letters and child-like drawings on its sides: he accidentally hit a secret switch and the box's cover opened to reveal a doll resembling a cartoon parody of the Grim Reaper jumping out of it using a spring.

"A~H!" Dragon Hell was terrified by now.

"Wow! Mister Dragon can really change his face!"

"HUH?"

"Everyone said he was stuck on the same face forever!" Trill giggled.

"Good job, Trill!" Dr. Lartes told him while walking in behind him and looking rather amused.

"Honorable Doctor Lartes! This was a test of loyalty, am I to assume, then?"

"No, Dragon Hell, no… It's just a prank." Dr. Lartes laughed.

"I-I see…" Dragon Hell kept on looking perplexed.

"Oh. Man. I can't wait to tell everyone…" Dr. Lartes looked about to explode into laughter.

Both he and Trill walked out while Dragon Hell kept on blinking, seemingly disoriented.

"… Trill! Where did you off to now?"

"Sorry, oneechan!"

Iris was questioning Trill when he appeared on their joint room.

"Mister Lartes called up Trill and Trill went. Then Trill and Mister Lartes gave the "Devil Box" to Mister Dragon to test his reaction! He does have more than one face!" Trill explained while dancing around.

"If Mr. Lartes told you to that… Then I have no complains… Next time, tough… Warn me when you're about to leave, alright?"

"Trill understands! Oneechan!"

Iris sighed in relief and smiled while she looked at Trill dancing around and giggling.

"Well. Time for the cartoon…"

"Yay! Cartoon! Cartoon!"

"As long as you have fun… This will be a nice Christmas break. I've got that feeling myself… A girl's intuition…? Tee, heh, heh. Well. Maybe..."

13:13 PM (Japan Time)…

"… This affair has been wrapped up but it's obvious that we're gonna have some new excitement soon enough…"

"Yeah. That's how it looks like."

Charles and Martin were chatting while sitting at opposite ends of a table in Maha Ichiban's.

"Here are the Maha Specials." Maha announced as he delivered the dishes.

"Thanks."

"Thank you."

Both of them began to eat while Davis and Lander continued their conversation.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Davis asked Lander.

"It's obvious! We're gonna stay 'round 'ere. There's a lot of stuff we want to see and this is going to be the spot for further action then we're not gonna miss it!" Lander replied with a broad smile.

"That's the spirit, _Sheriff_!" Davis told him.

"Hum! _By George_! That guy is up to something sneaky! I swear it, _by George_!" Count Elec grumbled as he finished cleansing the counter.

"I totally agree!" Hinoken added: he'd come in from having been delivering orders.

"You two…" Madoi glanced at them with an unimpressed face.

"I think I am going to lose my hopes regarding them." Maha added.

"Oh, ho, ho! It wouldn't surprise me at all, Maha Jarama." Wily chuckled and sounded amused.

"Dr. Wily – sama! Will you please stop taking part in those complots?"

"My bad. But it's my nature. Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"

14:40 PM (Melbourne Time)…

"… So, Master… If I understood it correctly… The whole FOD project was just to gather newer battle data and then use it for something codenamed "P. W.", whatever that is?"

"Correct… Heh, heh, heh. It's a fabulous project. It'd seem _those guys_ still have some intelligence left…"

"And then they say that Stove Man saved a scientist who was freezing to the death in the North Pole! Hose Man put out the Department Store's fire! Batman botched a robbery in the Fortúnez Ham Factory!"

"Where the heck did you get that from, Cloud Man?"

Philip was talking with Twilight while Cloud Man came up with some weird jokes which made Swallow Man frown.

"Mwah, hah, hah… _Mortadelo y Filemón: Los Espantajomanes_!"

"W-what?" Swallow Man didn't seem to understand it.

"It's a pun title… A rough translation would be "The Scary Men"! It's all about "Super-Men" parodies… Starting with Brick Man! Then we've got Sardine Man, Magpie Man, Mule Man… Worm Man!"

"You gotta be kidding me." Zoan Gate Man groaned.

"I ain't! Snort Man's next! Jinx Man! Pachyderm Man!"

"That's… stupid." Yamato Man grumbled.

"Totally!" Cosmo Man fumed.

"T-this fool…!" Freeze Man got a twitch over the right eye.

"Yikes. Tactical withdrawal!"

Cloud Man's 3D image flickered and a streak of yellow energy travelled across a circuitry path out of the Cyber World with the others grumbling in annoyance at the guy's behavior.

"So? When do I get to test Dark Miyabi, Master? We're pending it."

"True. And they could think I'm making empty threats. Let's wait a while until February… That should catch the guy with the guard down… This year 2009 will bring along a lil surprise… Heh, heh, heh… I'll let out that Number 493 will finally be revealed… Around mid-February…"

"Cool… So we'll finally get to know who it is…"

"Yeah… Heh, heh, heh… And there will be another important announcement further on…"

"Gen V? Already? Just 3 years after Gen IV?"

"Ah! I can't spoil it yet. Heh, heh, heh."

"… No! Wait! The _Gold_ and _Silver_ remake is pending! So it's gotta be that: a Nintendo DS remake!" Philip grinned.

"Bravo."

"Man! I hope to have completed my _Platinum_ PKMN Encyclopedia by then: I'll only be missing Number 493!"

"Heh, heh, heh… Things are about to get hot… A burning winter and a burning February… Will you be able to stand up to the might of "P. W.", I wonder… _Kyoudai_! You lowlife and I will eventually clash again… And I will show you the power I've been gaining!"

"Too bad those two ended up burning all stuff in Mistress Heart's room: but since we've got photos and all then I can recall it… Maybe it wouldn't be too hard to redo the room since no – one will care about it anymore from now on…"

"Sure… And I think I know someone who could do well as a replacement for Mistress Heart… Their programmer…"

"Oho. Then I'll be looking forward to it." Philip sneered.

"Legion 64 has eyes and ears everywhere… They'll soon tell us what's going on… And that biker guy… Meh! I don't mind them. Let them the play the crime-fighter all they want…"

Twilight laughed aloud while Philip crossed his arms and grinned…

13:54 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. I dispatched the report mail to Priest – sama… Did you go visit DM, Future's Net Navi?"

"Mwro~h! Of course! The guy's amusing! They've got humor: now that's a good working pal!"

"Did you figure out what RM is up to along with Ancient?"

"Dunno. I think they're overseas but I'm not sure."

"Oh well. Not like I need to know…"

The biker, "Past", was sitting on the hill looking towards the city and his bike had been parked close by: he kept the helmet on and used both hands to lean his head on them as he looked at the city: a bright sun shone in the skies.

"Yo. Unit B! Buddy." A Navi's voice rang out.

"Oho! Ya came, DM?"

"Sure. Future and I made a bet of 25Z." "DM" replied.

"About where my Operator was at…?" "Unit B" guessed.

"Correct. But this seems to be outta the city…"

"Well. Past wanted to disconnect and have some fresh air up here, in the hill… Whaddya think about these FOD guys and that chatter 'bout some "P. W." somewhere?"

"Sneaky. Sneakier than Solid Snake..." The guy laughed.

"Good joke! They should've called the guy Sneak Snake!"

"And Liquid would be Anti Sneak Snake!"

"Please…" "Past" thought it was silly.

"Yo. Past. Reflecting on the past?" A guy's voice laughed.

"Future. Envisioning the future?" He sarcastically asked.

"Heh! Not bad. You've got some rounds left in the Single Action Army yet, eh, companion?"

"Sure. And the Millennium Ring says you're creepy."

"Don't you mean the Millennium Necklace?"

"I know. I was making an irony, Future… I guess we both are close in age compared to me and Present… Did you meet the guy?"

"Yeah… Having the helmets on… As per the rule… He struck me as someone who sees flaws everywhere and that thinks that people don't learn the lessons of the past. They should read more history and realize what mistakes they're repeating over and over again…"

"Guess so. We'll be in contact… And don't try to rush things: when Priest – sama decides to start up our "organization" then that'll be the time but until then we gotta keep a low profile."

"Sure. I'm busy enough with my studies and all, anyway."

"Which I gotta drown 'cause I'm Drowning Man."

"You're making a joke on your initials, _fellow_." "Future" sighed.

"Heh! I name it misinformation. Like how Present's Navi uses the codename Weapon Man 'cause his name shares the same initials with AM – sama's ones…" "DM" shrugged.

"Mwroh, hoh, hoh… Downpour Man!"

"Defeating Man!"

"Mwro~h! Dancing Man!"

"You two… Quite it already!" "Past" told them with a sigh.

"Unit Brute!" "DM" laughed.

"These two… They're too hyperactive!"

"You haven't met Sigma or Shadow Man. And be glad of it."

"Guess I gotta be… See ya around… And quit it already, you two! JEEZ!"

14:14 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew! I'm home!"

"Welcome back, dear."

Yuuichirou walked into the house and was greeted by Haruka.

"Where are the boys?" Yuuichirou asked.

"They went to the square to play snowball war… It reminds me of my times." Haruka giggled.

"Oho."

The door opened and the twins came in, who totally looked like they had been engrossed in the snowball war.

"Hey! You two! It looks like you had some fun."

"Papa!"

Both ran towards him and hugged him.

"Welcome home, Papa!" Both greeted.

"Looks like you've missed me a lot." Yuuichirou smiled.

"About time you took a break, Papa! We miss you!"

"Christmas holidays aren't the same if we're not together."

"Of course. So? What is the latest news?"

"Dekao is gonna invent the Guts Man Program Advance using Guts Man, Guts Punch and Guts Machine Gun. He tried it and he only got an ERROR message on the PET." Netto laughed.

"He should try to learn how Program Advances are designed like." Saito giggled next.

"That reminds me: Meijin has been looking into them and is compiling a FAQ to help newbie Net Battlers use them."

"Cool! Tell us more!"

14:20 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew! What an exciting snowball war…"

Nelaus walked into his home and sat on the living room's sofa.

"It was fun to see Sigma using his sword as a tennis racket to shot the balls back at the other side!" Issac commented.

"It sure was." Nelaus smiled.

DING DONG!

"Who could it be?" Nelaus frowned.

He walked into the lobby and looked out through the peep hole: he looked surprised and opened the door.

"Hello, Aura – chan! What brings you over here today? Did something happen?" Nelaus asked her.

"Can we talk a bit, Nelaus – kun?" Aura asked her.

"Uh… Sure. Come in."

"I hope you don't mind our intrusion, Isaac – kun." Felicia told him.

"I don't all, Felicia – chan." Isaac smiled.

They both walked into the living room and Aura sat down on one sofa, looking around.

"Do you want something to drink?" Nelaus offered.

"Hmmm… Maybe some tea will do fine."

"Okay. Please wait a minute."

Aura began to scan the living room after Nelaus left it: there wasn't much furniture or decoration apart from the sofas, the table, the curtains and the windows.

"What are you looking for, Aura – chan?" Felicia asked her in a hush and sounding curious.

"I was trying to see if I found something which defined his tastes, but there isn't anything… I mean… Some kind of canvas or statuette which he may brought with him…" Aura replied.

"Oh. I get the point." Felicia smiled.

"Here's the tea. I brought some cookies as well." Nelaus announced as he deposited it on the table.

"Say, Nelaus – kun… This house… isn't it a bit cold?" Aura told him.

"… I haven't had time to turn on the heating system yet: that must be why."

"Ah! That's exactly it…" She smiled.

Nelaus turned it on and set it at a reasonable temperature before he sat back on the sofa.

"Say, Nelaus – kun… I know this may seem sudden, but I… I wanted to speak of something with you." Aura began saying.

"What is it?" Nelaus asked.

"… It's not like I believe in _clichés_ or drama series… But I… I want you and me to… to be more than friends. I want us to be a couple."

Nelaus actually blushed, something he had never done before.

"B-but…" Nelaus uttered.

"Of course! We won't go _that_ far. We're young. We have a lot of time ahead of us. Let's enjoy it." Aura smiled.

"What do you think of it, Isaac – kun?" Felicia asked her.

"I won't say "no"…" Isaac smiled.

"Aura – chan… I'm …very glad. Really. I appreciate it a lot… Thank you."

"You look troubled, Nelaus – kun…" Aura frowned.

"It's nothing. It's just that I… used to be rather lonely and I just… have begun to feel better thanks to my new friends…" Nelaus slowly replied.

_That's rather true, anyway. I only began to understand "bonds" and "friendship" after I started living here in September… _

"Then, it's settled." Aura smiled.

Both of them blinked an eye to each other and so did Isaac and Felicia as well.

"I need to get back home. See you around, Nelaus – kun!"

"See you around, Aura – chan."

"Bye-bye, Felicia – chan."

"…'Bye, Isaac – kun!"

"Isaac. I'd say things are now going to get _very_ interesting indeed."

"Heh, heh, heh. We got hooked… Well. At least Ooyama can still attempt to charm Sakurai but he's got zero chances on that front…"

"Totally."

"Muo~h… I'm a vengeful spirit!" A voice rang out.

"Shadow Man. I know that tune. Get out of MY shadow." Isaac fumed.

"Heh, heh, heh… Step-brother Miyabi went to the mountains to have some battle meditation and ensure that Densan Maniacs beat Tokyo Thunderbirds in the upcoming January match of the Cyber Cup."

Shadow Man popped out of Isaac's shadow while looking amused but Isaac and Nelaus were far from amused.

"Oh yeah? _Soccer Ninja_ Man, have you become?" Nelaus grumbled.

"Why. I could patent that."

"If you don't have anything useful to do then… Go to the mountain!"

"Sure. Step-brother Ishikawa's waiting for me."

Shadow Man chuckled and disappeared with a cloud of smoke.

"That guy… He won't learn the lesson!" Both protested.

19:19 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Whoa! They could even materialize that pirate's ship inside of the hangar?"

"Yeah. So they told us."

Netto and Saito were telling their parents about the events of two days ago and Yuuichirou was quite engrossed on it.

"So you finally managed to take them down, eh?" Yuuichirou smiled after they finished the summarization.

"Yeah. However… They were just pawns in a greater scheme and even Twilight was but a collaborator of the whole deal."

"Hum! I hope that nothing bad happens during these days."

"I'm sure it won't: Twilight must be busy enough sorting the data and trying to format it to be easily analyzed."

"I feel the same way, dear."

"I wanted to tell you… Towards January, I'm going to leave for some days to Ameroupe. The Time-Space Tower being built in there is expected to be complete by then. We want to further study these Time-Space abnormalities." Yuuichirou told them.

_We shouldn't tell him about Xon' Edos: it's not like the guy's aiming for publicity… Right, Saito – niisan?_

_Yeah. Maybe they'll figure out eventually but let's not spoil Papa._

"Wow. It's gotta be cool." Netto grinned.

"Cooler than Mr. Cool." Saito made a rhyme.

"Mwah, hah, hah… Rhyme Guy fell down with a downing downpour."

"That rhyme doesn't rhyme, Sigma." Blood Shadow sighed.

"My. It reminds me of the college days." Haruka giggled.

"Sure does… Sounds like something of my young times! Heh, heh, heh…"

21:26 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Man! I still feel tired from the other day."

"Yeah. I get that same sensation."

"Maybe we can cool off a bit these days."

"Mwah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah… Beware of Ijuuin's weird online businesses!"

The twins had already gotten ready to hit the sack and Sigma pulled a joke which made the three of them sighed at it.

"Don't tell us…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"Sigma! This is stuff between them, you know. They have the right to some privacy." Blood Shadow scolded him.

"I thought he'd just bought some of those weird coca-cola flavors for a party…" Sigma defended himself.

"Jeez! Who came up with the "vanilla" flavor? The mere name is repulsive!" Saito rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead.

"People just can't stay quiet. They think that something new to a classical brand will attract more customers."

"Yeah. We know…" Netto sighed in defeat.

"Cheer up! The skies are clear! It's a spectacular night!"

Both twins walked towards the balcony's sliding door and looked out.

"… Say… I think we should be hitting the sack."

"Yeah. I still carry over the tiredness from the other day. The reason Laika and Enzan were already so sleepy was because the water had been drugged. It didn't take effect for us thanks to our nanomachines, which broke down its components into non-harmful substances. In short: they didn't take effect." Saito replied.

"Let's hope Enzan doesn't try a similar trick." Netto smirked.

"I already told you our nanomachines would stop him from doing so no matter what."

"I knew it. I just wanted to tease you."

"You love teasing people, huh?" Saito asked with obvious sarcasm.

"Maybe I do."

"BAILEN!" A voice announced.

Both of them jumped off the ground from the surprise only to see Blood Shadow laughing.

"What the heck did you tell us?" Both of them questioned almost simultaneously.

"…"Dance"! You should dance the dance of dances, guys! It'd do you well, after all!" Blood Shadow kept on laughing.

"And it'd help shake off Bet Saxby's omens!" Sigma also laughed.

Both of them looked at each other and blinked, being clearly taken aback by the joke.

"… A joke's a joke…" Netto improvised.

"How about we hit the sack for real now? And don't try playing pillow war on me. I know you all-too-well, Netto – kun."

"Oh, I already know you're the World Champion at pillow war, Saito – niisan. Good night, lads. Wake us up at eight o'clock to make sure we don't oversleep." Netto blinked them an eye.

"Good night!" Saito told the two Navis.

"Good night!" Blood Shadow replied.

"Night! Beware of Whyte's bad mood!" Sigma joked.

The group laughed in a cherry way: they were ready to tackle any new adventures the future may have in store for them…

**THE END**


End file.
